08 July 2005 :

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that China "cannot" abolish the death penalty due to the country's "national conditions," but outlined hoped for regulations on how the state imposes capital punishment.
"China is reforming its judicial system, including taking the right to review the death penalty to the Supreme People's Court," Wen told journalists at the close of the annual session of the National People's Congress.
"However, given our national conditions we cannot abolish the death penalty."
Wen further said that as "half the countries in the world" implement the death penalty, China had no reason to abolish capital punishment. "What we are doing is to institute an effective system in China to insure prudence and justice in issuing the death penalty," Wen said.