Legal experts claim that death penalty is imposed on more than 70 offenses in the Chinese criminal law. But the courts do not release the exact annual number of death penalty.

The Supreme People's Court loosened its control over death penalty review in 1983, amid a strike-hard national campaign against soaring crimes following the decade-long Cultural Revolution.

But over the years, judges in different areas have been found to handle similar cases in varied ways. One defendant sentenced to death in one province might be jailed for life in another for a similar felony. Another problem was misjudgement caused by lax supervision.

Legal professionals have observed that with the resumption of SPC death sentence reviewing right, local courts have already become more cautious in issuing death orders.

Chinese justice community agrees that death sentence is necessary for the country at the present stage to serve as a powerful deterrent against crimes for the purpose of maintaining social stability and national security, and in the meantime China should reduce the number of capital punishments till this penalty is finally abolished when conditions are ripe.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2008)