China
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In January, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court...
- News items in the archive
- 2,796
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
China is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 2,796 news items on China, from 1999 to today.
China is believed to carry out more executions than any other country, but the figure is a state secret: no official statistics exist, and the known cases are those reported by the press or heard in public trials. Capital punishment applies to a large number of offences, including economic and drug offences, and the system also provides for a death sentence with a two year suspension, which in practice is often converted into life imprisonment.
The news on this page is a small part of what happens, and it is the part that can be documented.
Latest news
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At least 14 more criminals have been executed, in keeping...
At least 14 more criminals have been executed, in keeping with the mainland tradition of getting tough on crime before key holidays, like the National Day
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The High People's Court of east China's Jiangsu Province...
The High People's Court of east China's Jiangsu Province rejected the appeals of four Chinese men found guilty of the murder of a German Daimler-Benz AG executive, his wife and their two children at their villa in Nanjing on April 1, 2000
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Beijing City No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Beijing City No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced prostitute Hu Kaiying, 20, to death suspended for two years
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A local court in Suqian City in east China's Jiangsu...
A local court in Suqian City in east China's Jiangsu Province sentenced to death four leaders, among them Zheng Mingyue and Zheng Mingliang, of a gang which abducted, raped and then sold 240 poor rural women as brides in the city of Suqian
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seven gangsters and their associates were executed...
Seven gangsters and their associates were executed for crimes including murder, kidnapping and running gambling and prostitution rings
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shaanxi Higher Court confirmed the death sentence...
The Shaanxi Higher Court confirmed the death sentence meted out to the former general manager of the Xian Electro-mechanical Devices, Zhou Changqing, involved in the biggest corruption and embezzlement case since the founding of the People's Republic of C
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Cheng Kejie, 66, former vice-chairman of the body that...
Cheng Kejie, 66, former vice-chairman of the body that runs China's parliament was executed by the Intermediate People's Court of Beijing, after the confirmation and approval by China's Supreme People's Court of his death sentence
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
An extraordinary smuggling trial (about £5
An extraordinary smuggling trial (about £5
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chengdu City Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Chengdu City Intermediate People's Court sentenced Liu Zhongshan, former director of the Sichuan Provincial Communications Department and concurrently chairman of the board of the Sichuan Highway Construction and Development General Company, to death
- AUGUST 31, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China announced that it is planning to adopt a policy...
China announced that it is planning to adopt a policy of executions by lethal injection throughout the country, but added that executions by firing squad would continue
- AUGUST 23, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Higher People's Court in southern Guangxi Zhuang...
The Higher People's Court in southern Guangxi Zhuang province sentenced the head of a gang of 14 pirates from Myanmar, Maung Htay Aung, to death with a two-year reprieve for raiding the Marine Master, a Taiwanese cargo ship and setting its 21 crew members
- AUGUST 21, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
August 21 Cui Zhongliang, former senior engineer with...
August 21 Cui Zhongliang, former senior engineer with the Shandong Provincial Administration for Postal and Telecommunications Services was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension of execution, on charges of corruption and receiving bribes
- AUGUST 13, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In the Stavropol Territory Russia's law-enforcement...
In the Stavropol Territory Russia's law-enforcement authorities for the first time officially consented to the sending home of foreigners accused of being mercenaries
- AUGUST 10, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four people, including a fisherman from Taiwan and...
Four people, including a fisherman from Taiwan and a resident of Hong Kong, were executed in southern China's Guangdong Province for manufacturing or trafficking in fake coins and currency
- AUGUST 10, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Jiang Kaifu, a Chinese miner of the central province...
Jiang Kaifu, a Chinese miner of the central province of Hunan, was sentenced to death in the southern province of Guangdong for setting bombs on major railway lines in a bid to steal cash for his bankrupt coal pit three times in November 1999 and January
- AUGUST 2, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Du Shugui, 44, was executed about two months after...
Du Shugui, 44, was executed about two months after he drew his service revolver and shot a mini-van driver as he stood by his vehicle after an argument over a near-collision
- JULY 26, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A mainland court in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province,...
A mainland court in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, sentenced Hong Kong businessman Chu Kam-wing, 49, to death for using fake tax receipts to avoid more than 40 million yuan (HK$36
- JULY 26, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
An [unidentified] Chinese policeman who shot dead three...
An [unidentified] Chinese policeman who shot dead three people in a dispute over a 12
- JULY 21, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ou Jianneng, convicted of kidnapping a Hong Kong businessman's...
Ou Jianneng, convicted of kidnapping a Hong Kong businessman's family, extorting money and burning two police cars, was executed in the Guangdong province by a firing squad
- JULY 19, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Geng Yongxiang, 53, a former customs official in east...
Geng Yongxiang, 53, a former customs official in east China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth 1
- JULY 13, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Beijing No
The Beijing No
- JULY 8, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Beijing Intermediate Court handed down a death sentence...
A Beijing Intermediate Court handed down a death sentence on Ju Jiantai, 56, former deputy director of the Contemporary World Publishing Company and a member of the Communist Party for 37 years, for accepting bribes amounting to US$400,000
- JULY 6, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three [unidentified] Chinese men, were sentenced to...
Three [unidentified] Chinese men, were sentenced to death for arson, murder and other crimes
- JULY 6, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three Muslim separatists (?Alimu Younusi), (?Duolikun...
Three Muslim separatists (?Alimu Younusi), (?Duolikun Ruozi), (?Tuerhong Awuti) were executed by firing squad for murder, bomb plots and setting up a `'Party of God" to create an independent Islamic government, immediately after a public sentencing rally
- JULY 4, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liu Jinfeng a woman who used nitric acid to burn the...
Liu Jinfeng a woman who used nitric acid to burn the face of a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to death
- JULY 1, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A finance official in Zhejiang province was sentenced...
A finance official in Zhejiang province was sentenced to death for embezzling public funds and illegally granting loans to his own firms
- JULY 1, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A former agent of the National Security Bureau (NSB)...
A former agent of the National Security Bureau (NSB) Chang Chih-peng said that two People's Liberation Army officers - Liu Lienkun and Zhow Chengjung - were sentenced to death in China in August 2000 for spying on behalf of Taiwan
- JUNE 29, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Guangdong Higher People's Court pronounced death...
The Guangdong Higher People's Court pronounced death sentences on Zhuo Bing and Chen Pei for involvement in counterfeiting bills and coins cases
- JUNE 29, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A railway court in Shanghai sentenced Zhao Xianhui,...
A railway court in Shanghai sentenced Zhao Xianhui, a farmer from southwest China's Yunnan Province, to death with two years' probation
- JUNE 27, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Jiansheng, a drug trafficker, was sentenced to...
Chen Jiansheng, a drug trafficker, was sentenced to death by the Haikou Municipal People's Intermediate Court