China is considering dropping the death penalty for letter of credit (L/C) frauds and several other types of financial and non-violent crimes.

A proposed amendment to China's criminal law would reduce the number of crimes carrying the death penalty by 13, but 55 crimes will still carry the threat of capital punishment.

Under pressure

The proposal comes amidst pressure from legal scholars and reformers in China who argue that people guilty of relatively trivial non-violent crimes have been executed.

Financial crimes including the use of fraudulent L/Cs, financial bills and tax invoices would be exempted from the death penalty under the proposed reforms.

Reflecting reality

Other crimes that would no longer carry the threat of capital punishment include the smuggling out of the country prohibited cultural relics, gold, silver and other precious metals, as well as rare animals and their products.

China's legal scholars argue that very few people have been executed over recent years for these crimes, so the amendment would reflect today's reality.

International view

If the amendment becomes law, crimes that will remain punishable by death include crimes against the state such as "revealing state secrets" and "subversion", which legal experts deem to be poorly defined in Chinese legislation.

Amnesty International claims China executes thousands of people each year, more than the rest of the world combined.

Those sentenced to death include political opponents of the ruling Communist party, the human rights organisation says.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.