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
- MARCH 27, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On March 27, a court in Zhengzhouhanded down the death...
On March 27, a court in Zhengzhouhanded down the death sentence with a 2 year reprieve to Ma Jiangping, director of a branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), for embezzlement and misuse of nearly 200 million yuan ($24
- MARCH 23, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On March 23, it was reported that 10 people were executed...
On March 23, it was reported that 10 people were executed after 8 separate cases for murder, selling women and robbery, including a case in which a taxi driver was killed for about 100 yuan ($12)
- MARCH 11, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On March 11, Weifang Intermediate People's Court in...
On March 11, Weifang Intermediate People's Court in Shandong sentenced Cao Yasha, manager of an industrial company in Weifang City, to death for swindling other companies of more than 25m yuan ($3 million) by using financial vouchers
- MARCH 7, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On March 7, the Supreme People's Court upheld death...
On March 7, the Supreme People's Court upheld death sentences for 2 Zhejiang farmers, Hu Yinfeng and Lu Huaming
- MARCH 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In March, Zhanjiang City Intermediate People's Court...
In March, Zhanjiang City Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong sentenced Zhang Zhenlian, manager of Zhanjiang City Development Company, to death for issuing fake invoices worth nearly 200m yuan ($24
- MARCH 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On March 1, China executed a woman for running a prostitution...
On March 1, China executed a woman for running a prostitution racket in Beijing
- MARCH 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In March, to ensure public security and crack down...
In March, to ensure public security and crack down on hard-core crimes in Tibet, the Lhasa City Intermediate People's Court held a public rally to pronounce judgment on 17 criminal offenders
- MARCH 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In March, the Intermediate People's Court of the Eighth...
In March, the Intermediate People's Court of the Eighth Farm Reclamation Division under the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps held a public trial to sentence Wang Futian, Li Shuxiang, Mo Yikun, and 3 others to death for murder and robbery
- FEBRUARY 24, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On February 24, Luzhou City Intermediate Court in Sichuan...
On February 24, Luzhou City Intermediate Court in Sichuan sentenced Zhou Yan to death on charges of corruption
- FEBRUARY 3, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On February 3,11 people including a Muslim separatist...
On February 3,11 people including a Muslim separatist were executed in Xinjiang region for various crimes, like theft, rape, drug trafficking, gun running and organized crime, after their sentences were upheld by the High Court of Xinjiang and China's Sup
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At the beginning of February, the Intermediate People's...
At the beginning of February, the Intermediate People's Court in Shaoguan city gave the death sentence to 24-year-old Hua Zhiwei, ringleader of a group which gang-raped 14 women on 10 occasions
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On February 1, 8 people were executed in Beijing for...
On February 1, 8 people were executed in Beijing for murder, rape and robbery
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On the same day, a local court in south China handed...
On the same day, a local court in south China handed down sentences ranging from imprisonment to death to 14 Myanmarese pirates charged with raiding a Taiwanese cargo ship and setting its 19 crew members adrift in the Andaman Sea
- JANUARY 29, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 29, in a smuggling trial the Huaiyin Municipal...
On January 29, in a smuggling trial the Huaiyin Municipal Intermediate Court in Jiangsu Province gave Huang Ning a death sentence that was suspended for 2 years
- JANUARY 29, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The same day, 21 people were executed in southwestern...
The same day, 21 people were executed in southwestern Chongqing for murder and robbery after a public sentencing ceremony which drew a crowd of three hundred
- JANUARY 29, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 29, authorities in China's southern boomtown...
On January 29, authorities in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen, a freewheeling special economic zone plagued by drugs, prostitution and organized crime, executed Zhang Guojin and 5 members of his criminal extortion gang shortly after sentencing them
- JANUARY 28, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 28, Yibulayin Simayi, 42, and Abudureyimu...
On January 28, Yibulayin Simayi, 42, and Abudureyimu Aisha, 29, were executed after a public sentencing by the Yili Prefecture Intermediate People's Court
- JANUARY 27, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 27, the Intermediate People's Court in Hangzhou...
On January 27, the Intermediate People's Court in Hangzhou city, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, condemned a woman, Wang Hongying, 34, to death for running a prostitution racket
- JANUARY 27, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 27, Rouzi Keyoumu, 45, was put to deathafter...
On January 27, Rouzi Keyoumu, 45, was put to deathafter the Yili Intermediate People's Court found him guilty of "violent terrorist activities
- JANUARY 25, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 25, the No
On January 25, the No
- JANUARY 20, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 20, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court...
On January 20, the Shantou Intermediate People's Court handed down the death sentence to Lin Jingchuan, skipper of the Yongzaihong No
- JANUARY 19, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 19, 6 people were executed in Beijing for...
On January 19, 6 people were executed in Beijing for murder and robbery
- JANUARY 15, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 15, the Higher People's Court of southwest...
On January 15, the Higher People's Court of southwest China's Yunnan Province established a special court to deal with the growing number of drug-related cases
- JANUARY 15, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 15, Gao Yunliao, a farmer from Henan's Nanzhao...
On January 15, Gao Yunliao, a farmer from Henan's Nanzhao county, was given the death sentence and was executed in central China's Henan Province for attempting to steal a statue of the Buddha dating to the Tang Dynasty
- JANUARY 14, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On 14 January, Vice President of the Supreme People's...
On 14 January, Vice President of the Supreme People's Court Liu Jiachen awarded medals of honor to the Guangdong High Court and the Guangzhou Intermediate Court, for sentencing Hong Kong gangster Cheung Tze-keung to death in December 1998, a case that dre
- JANUARY 13, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 13, Li Yubao, an unemployed worker from...
On January 13, Li Yubao, an unemployed worker from Anhui Province, was executed in Shanghai after being convicted of killing on February 12, 1998 a Shanghai passenger with a knife during a quarrel at Huainan Railway Station
- JANUARY 9, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 9, Sun Maobeng, former governor of the Ningbo...
On January 9, Sun Maobeng, former governor of the Ningbo city branch of the People's Bank of China, was handed a suspended death sentence for bribery (more than $80,000) by a court in southeastern Zhejiang Province
- JANUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In January, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court...
In January, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Guo Haijun to death for stealing 31 cultural relics from Nanyang City Museum in 1997
- JANUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In January, in a drive to close huge loopholes in the...
In January, in a drive to close huge loopholes in the country's tax system, Vice Premier Li Lanqing was quoted as saying that China would enforce stiff penalties for tax evasion, including the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At the end of January, in the northern city of Taiyuan,...
At the end of January, in the northern city of Taiyuan, 8 convicts were executed by gunshot for drug smuggling, murder and robbery