Death penalty in China: The law and the practice

Abstract

China is a nation that carries out the death penalty with a broad scope in its transition to a market economy. The present study described and analyzed the legal concept and practice of the death penalty in China in a comparative context. It presented an overview of the Chinese legal tradition of the death penalty, the legal development of the death penalty since the Chinese Communists took power, and the current practice of the death penalty in China. It represented an attempt to offer a research-based understanding of the capital punishment in a nation that was experiencing significant change and transformation since the early 1980s.