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4/26/2017 The Death Penalty in China Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide search site Search Donate ABOUT DEATH PENALTY DATABASE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ISSUES RESOURCES FAQ BLOG CONTACT DPW IN THE NEWS MAKWANYANE INSTITUTE Death Penalty Database China Information current as of: April 10, 2014 General Official Country Name People’s Republic of China (China). [1] Geographical Region Asia (Eastern Asia). [2] Death Penalty Law Status Retentionist. [3] According to media reports, executions were carried out in 2014. [4] Methods of Execution Lethal Injection. [5] Shooting. [6] Comments. Lethal injection and shooting are the only methods authorized by China's Criminal Procedure Law of 1996. [7] Shooting executions were discontinued in 2010 per a People's Supreme Court ruling of February 2009 which held that lethal injection is a more humane form of execution than shooting. [8] Lethal injection (using a mixture of barbiturates, muscle relaxant, and potassium chloride [9] ) was legalized in 1996 and has been used since the late 1990s. [10] In June 2009, the Chinese government announced that it was a long­term objective to replace the firing squad with lethal injection. [11] It is carried out in prisons or in mobile “death vans,” where prisoners are reportedly strapped to an electric­powered stretcher and injected with lethal drugs. [12] The use of these vans has been decreasing since the late 2000s due to the expense of maintaining the vans. [13] At least one source reports that persons convicted of economic or political crimes may be more likely to be executed by lethal injection than persons convicted of general crimes, who may be more likely to be shot; however, that same source indicates that lethal injection in a prison facility is a less expensive form of execution and was initially implemented in high crime­rate areas where it would be more likely that offenders were being executed for general crimes. [14] The cost of a single dose of lethal injection is cheaper—at 300 yuan—than the 700 yuan price tag of a firing squad. [15] Scholars point to this factor, profit, ease of secrecy, and reduction of family complaints (due to massive disfiguration caused by shots to the back of the condemned’s head) as factors motivating the switchover to lethal injection, [16] which has progressed at a slow pace. [17] References [1] BBC, Country Profiles: China Profile, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world­asia­pacific­13017879, May 21, 2013. [2] U.N., Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub­regions, and selected economic and other groupings, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm, Oct. 31, 2013. [3] Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions 2012, p. 18­19, ACT 50/001/2013, Apr. 10, 2013. [4] Katie Hunt, China executes man who kept 6 women in dungeon as sex slaves, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/22/world/asia/china­sex­slaves­execution/, Jan. 22, 2014. [5] Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, art. 212, Jul. 1, 1979, as amended through to Mar. 14, 2012. [6] Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, art. 212, Jul. 1, 1979, as amended through to Mar. 14, 2012. [7] Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, art. 212, Jul. 1, 1979, as amended through to Mar. 14, 2012. [8] Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death sentence, Asia Times, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KL16Ad01.html, Dec. 16, 2009. Sugita Katyal, China to swap bullets for lethal injections, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE55F0XT20090616, Jun. 16, 2009. [9] Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death sentence, Asia Times, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KL16Ad01.html, Dec. 16, 2009. [10] Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death sentence, Asia Times, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KL16Ad01.html, Dec. 16, 2009. Sugita Katyal, China to swap bullets for lethal injections, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE55F0XT20090616, Jun. 16, 2009. Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, art. 212, Jul. 1, 1979, as amended through to Mar. 14, 2012. Clive Stafford Smith, China must show mercy, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/24/china­death­penalty, Oct. 24, 2009. [11] Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions 2009, p. 13, ACT 50/001/2010, Mar. 30, 2010. [12] Andrew Malone, China’s hi­tech ‘death van’ where criminals are executed and then their organs are sold on black market, Mail Online, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article­1165416/Chinas­hi­tech­death­van­criminals­ executed­organs­sold­black­market.html, Mar. 27, 2009. Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death sentence, Asia Times, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KL16Ad01.html, Dec. 16, 2009. [13] Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death sentence, Asia Times, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KL16Ad01.html, Dec. 16, 2009. [14] Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death seSntenacerc, Ahs iTa iTpimse s , |h t t p :R//wewswe.aatimrcesh.c Mome/atthimoeds/oClhoinga/yK L 1 6| A d 0G1.hlotmsl,s Daercy. 1 6 ,| 2 0 0 S9. earch http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country­search­post.cfm?country=China#a6­2 1/19 4/26/2017 The Death Penalty in China [15] Cristian Segura, China injects ‘humanity’ into death sentence, Asia Times, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KL16Ad01.html, Dec. 16, 2009. [16] Johnson & Zimring, The Next Frontier: National Development, Political Change, and the Death Penalty in Asia, p. 275, Oxford University Press, 2009. [17] Sugita Katyal, China to swap bullets for lethal injections, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE55F0XT20090616, Jun. 16, 2009. CNN, Chinese province favors lethal injection over gunshot, http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/11/china.lethal.injection/index.html, Dec. 11, 2009. Country Details Language(s) Mandarin Chinese. [1] Population 1,350,000,000. [2] Number of Individuals Currently Under Sentence of Death The number is a state secret. [3] It is difficult to estimate because many prisoners do not linger on death row – they are either executed immediately, [4] or given a suspended two­year sentence after which they are either executed or have their sentence commuted. [5] According to Amnesty International, China imposed 7003 death sentences in 2008, although this may be a significant underestimate. [6] A 2009 estimate had China passing out about 140 sentences per week. [7] With an annual execution rate in the thousands, there must be thousands of death sentences handed down every year. [8] Annual Number of Reported Executions Executions in 2017 to date (last updated on April 25, 2017) The number of executions is a state secret, and the executions reported in the media [9] are a fraction of those that are carried out. Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more than the rest of the world together. [10] Executions in 2016 The number of executions is a state secret, and the executions reported in the media [11] are a tiny fraction of those that are carried out. Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more than the rest of the world together. [12] Per capita execution rate in 2016 Executions in 2015 Approximately 2,400. The press reports only a tiny proportion of the actual number of executions, which is a state secret. [13] Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more than the rest of the world together. [14] Amnesty International was able to confirm 1,000 executions in 2015 but believes that more were carried out. [15] We rely on the Dui Hua Foundation's assessment that the number of executions in 2015 would be comparable to the number of executions in 2014 and 2013. [16] Per capita execution rate in 2015 1 execution per 562,500 persons. Executions in 2014 2,400. Information about the number of executions is a state secret. [17] Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more executions than carried out in the rest of the world. [18] We rely on the Dui Hua Foundation's assessment that the number of executions in 2014 would be comparable to the number of executions in 2013. [19] Per capita execution rate in 2014 1 execution per 562,500 persons Executions in 2013 2,400. Information about the number of executions is a state secret. [20] Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more executions than carried out in the rest of the world. [21] We rely on the number provided by the Dui Hua Foundation, which estimated that 2,400 executions were carried out. [22] Per capita execution rate in 2013 1 execution per 562,500 persons Search Tips | Research Methodology | Glossary | Search http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country­search­post.cfm?country=China#a6­2 2/19 4/26/2017 The Death Penalty in China Executions in 2012 3,000. Information about the number of executions is a state secret. [23] Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more executions than carried out in the rest of the world. [24] We rely on the number provided by the Dui Hua Foundation, which estimated that 3,000 executions were carried out. [25] Per capita execution rate in 2012 1 execution per 450,000 persons Executions in 2011 4,000. Information about the number of executions is a state secret. [26] Human rights organizations estimate that China carries out thousands of executions a year, more executions than carried out in the rest of the world.

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