31,527 prisoners granted amnesty in 5 years: supreme court - Xinhua | English.news.cn

It is good to hear that death penalties are "extremely small" and only for "extreme" crimes.  But the transparency which otherwise characterizes China's courts is completely absent regarding the imposition of capital punishment.  Maintaining this state secret only guarantees the presumption outside China that the death penalty is not rare.
31,527 prisoners granted amnesty in 5 years: supreme court - Xinhua | English.news.cn

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 31,527 prisoners were granted amnesty across China in the past five years, a work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Friday.

Chinese courts have strengthened efforts to protect human rights in judicial practices, according to the report delivered by Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at a plenary meeting of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.

Death penalty decisions were strictly reviewed to make sure that death sentences only apply to an extremely small number of criminals for extremely severe offenses, it said.

The report noted that the SPC has worked with the Ministry of Justice to enhance the legal aid system.

Cases involving minors have seen declines for five consecutive years, according to the report.

A total of 2.67 billion yuan (420 million U.S. dollars) of judicial subsidies have been granted to victims who failed to get compensations to help them continue their life, it said.