A revision to China’s Criminal Law has eliminated the death penalty sentence for 13 crimes. From China Daily:
China’s newly revised Criminal Law eliminated the death penalty for 13 economy-related crimes, as the country moved to restructure its penalty system and better protect human rights.
Fifty-five crimes are now punishable by death, according to the eighth Amendment to the Criminal Law, which was discussed and passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at a bimonthly session that closed on Friday.
The amendment marks the first time since the Criminal Law took effect in 1979 that the country has reduced the number of crimes subject to the death penalty.
“The 13 crimes that have been exempted from the death penalty are mainly economic and non-violent crimes,” Lang Sheng, vice-chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, said at a press conference following the three-day session.
