Caixin Explains: China’s Two Kinds of Suspended Death Sentences

This week, a former central bank deputy governor became the latest corrupt official to be sentenced to “death with a two-year reprieve” — except Fan Yifei’s penalty came with a less common addendum that disqualifies him for receiving a further reduction in prison time.

In practice, most death sentences that corrupt officials receive in China come with a “two-year reprieve,” meaning that their sentence is customarily commuted to life in prison if they do not commit any other crimes during those two years. Under China’s Criminal Law, however, the sentence can be further reduced to 25 years in prison under certain circumstances.