From USA Today (link):
China, which executed more than four times as many people as all other countries combined last year, is moving to curtail its use of the death penalty.
Beijing’s new policy comes after years of criticism from human rights groups, as well as pressure from Chinese lawyers and other legal professionals.
“We want to ensure that the death penalty is used correctly,” says Xu Lanting, head of the criminal law committee at the Beijing Lawyers Association. “That’s how to guarantee justice.”