China plans to scrap death penalty for nine crimes

China’s legislature is considering abolishing the death penalty for nine of the 55 crimes it is currently available for, state media said Monday, including illegal fundraising, which has been at the centre of several controversial cases. The country executes more people than the rest of the world combined, rights groups say, but a draft amendment to reduce the scope of capital punishment has been submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubberstamp legislature, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Some of the nine non-violent crimes included in the draft legislative amendment are smuggling weapons, ammunition or nuclear materials, counterfeiting currency and raising funds by means of fraud, Xinhua said. The move comes amid a raft of proposed changes to the legal system, and follows a key Communist meeting which pledged to ensure the “rule of law”, although analysts say the ruling party will remain firmly in charge of the courts.

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