04 January 2008 :

China is to expand the use of lethal injections to replace execution by shooting, a senior official has said.
Jiang Xingchang, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said that the move was because lethal injections were considered more humane. Mr Jiang said that the lethal injection method would eventually be used in all Intermediate People's Courts, but gave no timescale for the shift.
"The SPC will help equip intermediate courts with all required facilities and train more professionals, particularly in the central and western regions," he told China Daily.
Death row inmates and their families backed the move, he said. The other method involves prisoners being shot in the back of the head.
China's Chief Justice Xiao Yang, meanwhile, told the newspaper that China was "working towards" more limited use of the death penalty, but ruled out ending the practise.