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
- NOVEMBER 23, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 23, a Hong Kong gangster and 4 mainlanders...
On November 23, a Hong Kong gangster and 4 mainlanders were executed for a string of murders and robberies in Macao and Guangdong, minutes after a Zhuhai court in the south's Guangdong Province was told their appeals had been rejected
- NOVEMBER 11, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 11, a Thai man was among 36 people executed...
On November 11, a Thai man was among 36 people executed in a fresh crackdown on crime in Guangdong province, southern China
- NOVEMBER 9, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 9, with the approval of the Supreme People's...
On November 9, with the approval of the Supreme People's Court, Zhang Deyuan, former chairman and president of the International Trust and Investment Company in Hunan Province, who accepted more than 1
- NOVEMBER 8, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 8, Sun Yanbiao, the deputy mayor of the...
On November 8, Sun Yanbiao, the deputy mayor of the southern city of Ningbo from 1993 to 1998 was sentenced to death for taking bribes
- NOVEMBER 8, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 8, Chinese police formally arrested 111...
On November 8, Chinese police formally arrested 111 members of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement on charges ranging from obstruction of the law to stealing state secrets, said Li Bing, deputy head of the information office of the State Council, o
- NOVEMBER 4, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 4, Jin Jianpei, former director of the...
On November 4, Jin Jianpei, former director of the Hong Kong Office of Hubei Province was sentenced to death on charges of embezzlement and misappropriating public funds
- NOVEMBER 3, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 3, Chinese representative Sun Ang, speaking...
On November 3, Chinese representative Sun Ang, speaking at the Third Committee of the General Assembly on item 116 a), question on human rights, said that in the area of human rights instruments, as in other areas of international affairs, the principle o
- NOVEMBER 3, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 3, So Kwai-biu and Chen Weicheng, a Hong...
On November 3, So Kwai-biu and Chen Weicheng, a Hong Kong man and his mainland accomplice who appeared at Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court, were found guilty of murder and condemned to death
- NOVEMBER 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In November, it was reported that 23 drug smugglers...
In November, it was reported that 23 drug smugglers were executed and 46 given suspended death sentences in Shaanxi Province, in northwest China, since an intensive campaign to curb drug-related crimes was launched in 1998
- NOVEMBER 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On November 1, China passed a law which opens the way...
On November 1, China passed a law which opens the way for the death penalty for the leaders of the banned Falun Gong group -a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and qiqong, which is designed to harness inner energy and heal
- OCTOBER 27, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On October 27, the Tianjin Municipal No
On October 27, the Tianjin Municipal No
- OCTOBER 22, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On October 22, Jinan City Intermediate People's Court...
On October 22, Jinan City Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhou Haixing, 24, manager of Shandong Baosheng Jewellery to death for issuing false VAT invoices and bribery
- OCTOBER 20, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On October 20, China executed Yang Rongsong in the...
On October 20, China executed Yang Rongsong in the northeastern province of Liaoning for kidnapping and murdering Lin Ti-chuan, a Taiwan opposition politician in 1998
- OCTOBER 12, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On October 12, a death sentence, suspended for 2 years,...
On October 12, a death sentence, suspended for 2 years, was imposed on Zheng Rongfang, former vice-mayor of Enping city in Guangdong
- OCTOBER 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In October, Liu Jiaguo was executed for 11 cases of...
In October, Liu Jiaguo was executed for 11 cases of rape, some of which involved juveniles under 14
- SEPTEMBER 30, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On September 30, the Rome Court of Appeal upheld the...
On September 30, the Rome Court of Appeal upheld the request for extradition presented by the authorities of the People's Republic of China with regard to Song Zhicai, a Chinese citizen arrested in Italy on November 6, 1998, with a international warrant i
- SEPTEMBER 24, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On September 24, the Sichuan High Court upheld the...
On September 24, the Sichuan High Court upheld the suspended death sentence for the 2 former chairmen of the Dongfang Boiler (Group) Company Ltd
- SEPTEMBER 22, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On September 22, as part of a crackdown on crime ahead...
On September 22, as part of a crackdown on crime ahead of the 50th anniversary of communist rule a further 26 executions were carried out in the southwestern city of Chongqing
- SEPTEMBER 20, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On September 20, Yili Prefectural Intermediate People's...
On September 20, Yili Prefectural Intermediate People's Court held a public trial in Yining County to pass judgment on 22 terrorists guilty of "violent terrorist activities
- SEPTEMBER 8, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On September 8, the Jiangxi Provincial Higher People's...
On September 8, the Jiangxi Provincial Higher People's Court gave its final judgment on the case of the wounding of the leading cadres of Jiangxi's Anyi County which shocked the whole country
- SEPTEMBER 2, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On September 2, a court in Guangzhou sentenced one...
On September 2, a court in Guangzhou sentenced one man to death and another to life imprisonment for forcing 5 women into prostitution
- AUGUST 25, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On August 25, a Chinese court sentenced a woman Zhou...
On August 25, a Chinese court sentenced a woman Zhou Mingrong to death for masterminding a fraudulent savings scheme that bilked depositors out of more than 70 million yuan ($8
- AUGUST 15, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On August 15, Maj
On August 15, Maj
- AUGUST 9, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On August 9, the most notorious smugglers in South-East...
On August 9, the most notorious smugglers in South-East Asia had their death sentences upheld by the Chinese Supreme Court
- JULY 30, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On July 30, 4 people were executed in the northern...
On July 30, 4 people were executed in the northern region of Ningxi Hui, after they had been given death sentences by a Yinchuan court
- JULY 30, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On July 30,2 chairmen of the Shanghai-listed Dongfang...
On July 30,2 chairmen of the Shanghai-listed Dongfang Boiler (Group) Company Ltd
- JULY 22, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
China signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated themselves from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death pena
- JULY 21, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On July 21, the Yinchuan Intermediate People's Court...
On July 21, the Yinchuan Intermediate People's Court found that Xie Jianwen, Yang Jie, Yang Jun, and Zhang Yanbin stole 120 kg
- JULY 19, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On July 19, a Taiwanese soldier was sentenced to death...
On July 19, a Taiwanese soldier was sentenced to death after he admitted raping and murdering a 17-year-old schoolgirl in a case which caused a public outcry and saw several officers reprimanded
- JULY 16, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On July 16, a group of criminals were also executed...
On July 16, a group of criminals were also executed in Guangzhou for murder, robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking, but the exact number of people put to death was not revealed