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
- 2,785
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 2,785 news items on China, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- APRIL 6, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yang Wen, 31, was executed in Taiyuan, the capital...
Yang Wen, 31, was executed in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province for raping two university students and killing a female postgraduate student during a failed sexual assault
- APRIL 1, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has launched a nationwide campaign against the...
China has launched a nationwide campaign against the abduction and selling of women and children, which has become increasingly common in recent years
- MARCH 21, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At the UN Commission on Human Rights Jaime Gama, Foreign...
At the UN Commission on Human Rights Jaime Gama, Foreign Minister of the EU term president Portugal, said the EU is committed to the dialogue with China on human rights
- MARCH 20, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The EU General Affairs Council condemned China for...
The EU General Affairs Council condemned China for "marking time" by signing international pacts
- MARCH 15, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Deputy Ma Lik said it would not be easy for China and...
Deputy Ma Lik said it would not be easy for China and Hong Kong to sign a mutual assistance agreement on criminal cases because of their differences on the issue of the death penalty
- MARCH 15, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Akesu in the northwestern region of Xinjiang...
A court in Akesu in the northwestern region of Xinjiang gave capital punishment to 11 people, who were shot immediately afterwards
- MARCH 11, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seven criminals were executed in Tibet recently for murder
Seven criminals were executed in Tibet recently for murder
- MARCH 8, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hu Changqing, 48, former Jiangxi Province Deputy Governor,...
Hu Changqing, 48, former Jiangxi Province Deputy Governor, was executed in the provincial capital of Nanchang
- FEBRUARY 29, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The EU held in Lisbon a marathon eleven-hour session...
The EU held in Lisbon a marathon eleven-hour session of "dialogue on human rights" with China
- FEBRUARY 25, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At bilateral talks it was agreed that a British Foreign...
At bilateral talks it was agreed that a British Foreign Office panel on the death penalty would make an early visit to China
- FEBRUARY 17, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling...
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Union to censure China at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva
- FEBRUARY 3, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three people, convicted of forcing more than 50 women...
Three people, convicted of forcing more than 50 women into prostitution after luring them with promises of factory jobs, were executed
- FEBRUARY 2, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six leaders of a Chinese gang which butchered 77 people...
Six leaders of a Chinese gang which butchered 77 people between February 1998 and March 1999 with meat cleavers and scissors in a year-long orgy of rape and mutilation had been executed in Henan province
- FEBRUARY 2, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three men were put to death in central Shaanxi province...
Three men were put to death in central Shaanxi province for stealing 15 murals from the tomb of an imperial concubine, Wei Guifei, a favourite of Tang dynasty emperor Li Shiming who lived 1300 years ago
- JANUARY 28, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme People's Court (SPC) approved the death...
The Supreme People's Court (SPC) approved the death sentences handed out by the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court and issued the order of execution for 13 pirates
- JANUARY 26, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five militants were sentenced to death for separatism,...
Five militants were sentenced to death for separatism, murder, robbery and illegally dealing in weapons and ammunition in connection with a two-year spate of separatist activities across China's northwestern territory of Xinjiang
- JANUARY 25, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twelve convicted felons were sentenced and executed...
Twelve convicted felons were sentenced and executed in central Henan province, as courts embarked on the annual pre-Lunar New Year flurry of executions
- JANUARY 21, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Hong Kong man and his mainland accomplice So Kwai-biu...
A Hong Kong man and his mainland accomplice So Kwai-biu and Chen Wei-cheng, both 38, were executed in Guangzhou for the murder of seven people, including an Australian and an American, in southern China
- JANUARY 19, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
He Pu, a 29-year-old computer specialist of the People's...
He Pu, a 29-year-old computer specialist of the People's Bank of China, was shot by order of the Xinjiang Higher People's Court in the regional capital of Urumqi, in the northwestern Xinjiang region
- JANUARY 18, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament passed a resolution deploring...
The European Parliament passed a resolution deploring an increase in the number of executions and criticised the silencing of political dissidents and clampdowns on ethnic and religious minorities
- JANUARY 14, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhuo Xiaojun, a Hong Kong national, was sentenced to...
Zhuo Xiaojun, a Hong Kong national, was sentenced to death for murder by the Fuzhou City's Intermediate People's Court
- JANUARY 14, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two mainland farmers both from the Sichuan Province...
Two mainland farmers both from the Sichuan Province were executed for running a prostitution racket out of a hotel hair salon
- JANUARY 14, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Song Yongyi an American university academic was arrested...
Song Yongyi an American university academic was arrested after he uncovered evidence of atrocities during the Cultural Revolution
- JANUARY 12, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China, despite being a signatory of the international...
China, despite being a signatory of the international convention on the treatment of refugees, decided to repatriate seven North Koreans who entered Russia in November and were expelled to China (see below)
- JANUARY 12, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China repatriated Ho Young Il, 30, and six other North...
China repatriated Ho Young Il, 30, and six other North Koreans, who entered Russia in November 1999 and were expelled to China in late December of the same year
- JANUARY 9, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Sunday Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper revealed...
The Sunday Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper revealed that executed prisoners' organs were offered to Hong Kong patients at Guangdong's main transplant hospital for up to $300,000 each
- JANUARY 6, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four women with little education were convicted of...
Four women with little education were convicted of forming a "pyramid association" to collect money by fraud and illegally absorbing deposits from the public amounting to nearly 200m yuan
- JANUARY 6, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai Municipal Intermediate Court sentenced...
The Shanghai Municipal Intermediate Court sentenced Huang Guanguo, former manager of the Minhang District Commercial Buildings Development and Trading Company, and Li Min Tai concurrently vice-chairman of the board and general manager of the Shanghai Hous
- JANUARY 4, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xu Jianshe, a vice-director of the land administration...
Xu Jianshe, a vice-director of the land administration bureau in Shangqiu, in the Henan province, his cousin Zhang Jixian and hired killer Xu Huaang were sentenced to death by a municipal court for the death of the official's boss Li Wenzhong
- JANUARY 3, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six men were executed at public rallies after being...
Six men were executed at public rallies after being found guilty of selling 52 women as peasant brides