BEIJING — China, which is believed to execute more convicted people than the rest of the world combined, said Monday that it uses the death penalty only on "a very small number of extremely serious criminal offenders." In a report published Monday, China's government says authorities "strictly control the death penalty and employ it with prudence." Although China no longer executes people for most nonviolent crimes, its law allows for the death penalty for dozens of offenses, including treason, separatism, spying, arson, murder, rape, robbery and human trafficking. The number of executions in China is not known because such data is considered a state secret. Amnesty International estimates that it executes more people than the rest of the world's countries put together, which totaled 1,634 in 2015.

Source: New York Times September 12, 2016 05:52 UTC