China is a step nearer to abolishing the death penalty for people found guilty of letter of credit (L/C) fraud.

A draft amendment to China's Criminal Law that would end capital punishment for L/C fraudsters has now passed its second reading.

Second reading

The draft amendment was submitted on 20 December for its second reading to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

The committee passed the amendment - which will reduce the number of offences carrying the death penalty from 68 to 55 - without making any changes to the original draft.

Under pressure

China said earlier this year that it was considering dropping the death penalty for L/C frauds and several other types of financial and non-violent crimes.

The proposal came amidst pressure from legal scholars and reformers in China who argue that people guilty of relatively trivial non-violent crimes have been executed (DC World News, 24 August 2010).

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