China’s Death Penalty for Corruption: Why Officials Are Executed and High-Profile Cases

China’s death penalty system has ancient roots, with capital punishment forming one of the classical Five Punishments during the dynastic period. As far back as the earliest codified laws, execution was firmly established as a tool of justice. Some sources trace the practice to the Miao people in the twenty-third century BC, who first created the five punishments, known as wu hsing, later incorporated into the broader framework of fa (law).

Today, China operates one of the most extensive capital punishment systems in the world, applying the death penalty to a wide range of crimes, including murder, drug trafficking and corruption. By most accounts, China remains the global leader in the number of legal executions carried out annually.

Exact figures are classified as state secrets, but independent monitoring provides a sense of scale. Amnesty International reported that more than 1,500 people were executed across 15 countries in 2024, representing a 32% increase compared with 2023. However, these figures exclude China, where thousands are believed to be executed each year.

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The most recent high-profile sentencing took place on 28 September 2025, when former Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes totalling nearly $38 million.

Earlier in the year, two mass murderers were executed in January 2025, showing that the penalty continues to be used widely beyond corruption-related cases.

China’s use of capital punishment operates on a vast scale. Amnesty International’s past estimates suggest that the true number of executions each year is significantly higher than officially acknowledged. In 2009, for instance, the organisation recorded 1,718 executions globally in 2008 based on available information, though the figure was likely far greater in reality given the opacity of China’s reporting.

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Recent monitoring shows worrying trends. In 2024, Amnesty International observed a 32% increase in executions worldwide compared with 2023. Once again, these totals exclude China, where the true number of executions remains undisclosed due to government secrecy surrounding the practice.

Over the past two decades, several senior officials have been sentenced to death or executed for corruption, making corruption one of the most politically sensitive crimes in China’s judicial system.

On 29 September 2025, Tang Renjian, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting nearly $38 million in bribes between 2007 and 2024. The Changchun City People’s Court ruled that Tang also faced lifelong deprivation of political rights and confiscation of personal assets.

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In June 2025, Liu Yuejin, a former national political adviser, was sentenced to death with reprieve for accepting bribes worth more than 121 million yuan. His conviction highlights that even mid-level officials continue to face China’s harshest punishments.

In December 2024, Li Jianping, a former senior official in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was executed in what Chinese media described as the largest corruption case in the country’s history. He was convicted of embezzling more than three billion yuan (approximately $421 million).

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Zhao Zhengyong, former Communist Party Secretary of Shaanxi Province, received a suspended death sentence in 2023 for corruption involving hundreds of millions of yuan.

Lai Xiaomin, a former top banker and chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, was executed in January 2021. He was convicted of accepting 1.79 billion yuan ($264.6 million) in bribes, making his case one of the most notorious in recent memory.

In 2016, Wei Pengyuan, deputy director at the National Energy Administration, was sentenced to death with reprieve after investigators discovered more than 200 million yuan in cash stashed in his home.

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In 2007, Zheng Xiaoyu, director of the State Food and Drug Administration, was executed for corruption and dereliction of duty. His case shocked the public, as his acceptance of bribes had led to the approval of unsafe medicines that caused multiple deaths.

Cheng Kejie, former Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, was executed in 2000 for accepting more than 41 million yuan in bribes. He remains one of the highest-ranking officials ever executed for corruption.

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China’s judicial authorities have long tied the application of the death penalty to the size of corruption cases. Official guidelines have previously suggested that embezzlement or bribery exceeding three million yuan (about $421,000) could result in a death sentence. However, these thresholds appear flexible, evolving in response to the growing scale and complexity of corruption.

Many high-ranking officials, like Tang Renjian, receive suspended death sentences rather than immediate executions. These sentences usually carry a two-year reprieve, after which the penalty may be commuted to life imprisonment if the defendant refrains from further crimes.

This practice has become more common in recent years, particularly for senior figures, signalling a shift away from immediate executions towards punishments that combine severity with some measure of judicial restraint.

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Although corruption cases often dominate headlines, China continues to apply the death penalty for violent crimes. In September 2024, for example, a man in Shenzhen was sentenced to death for murdering a 10-year-old Japanese boy. Such cases illustrate that capital punishment remains central to China’s broader approach to violent offences, drawing both praise for swift justice and criticism from legal observers concerned about the speed and fairness of trials.

China’s use of the death penalty is not limited to criminal justice. In 2024, new legal guidelines were announced suggesting that supporters of Taiwanese independence could be tried in absentia and face capital punishment, regardless of their location. This move illustrates the intersection between capital punishment and China’s political objectives, extending its scope into matters of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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The high-profile death sentences of recent years must be understood within the framework of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign. Since its launch, the campaign has toppled senior officials across multiple sectors, reinforcing the message that no position is immune from punishment.

The application of the death penalty in these cases serves both as a deterrent and a demonstration of political will. However, its use also varies depending on factors such as the sums involved, the defendant’s cooperation with authorities, and the broader political climate.

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China’s continued use of capital punishment attracts strong criticism from international human rights organisations. Calls for transparency and eventual abolition have grown louder, especially as other countries move towards reducing or eliminating the death penalty.

Nevertheless, domestic support for executions, particularly in corruption cases, remains high. Many Chinese citizens view the punishment as necessary for maintaining social order and deterring misconduct among officials. This local approval underscores the tension between international advocacy for abolition and the state’s reliance on capital punishment as a governing tool.

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China’s death penalty system sits at the intersection of criminal justice, political control and social governance. The cases of Tang Renjian, Li Jianping and Lai Xiaomin demonstrate how capital punishment continues to serve as both deterrent and punishment in corruption scandals involving senior officials.

While secrecy obscures the true scale of executions, the country’s visible high-profile cases send a clear warning to those in positions of authority: corruption carries the gravest of consequences.

The shift from immediate executions to suspended death sentences reflects a more nuanced approach, balancing deterrence with political and practical considerations.

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Yet, as China’s anti-corruption campaign continues and political tensions rise, the death penalty remains one of the most severe tools at the government’s disposal, ensuring it will remain a subject of both domestic approval and international scrutiny for years to come.