[JURIST] China is contemplating eliminating the death penalty as punishment for nine crimes, according to a report [Xinhua report] released Monday by Chinese state media outlet Xinhua. The proposed legislation was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) [BBC backgrounder] for a first reading Monday. According to the report, the nine crimes include: “smuggling weapons, ammunition, nuclear materials or counterfeit currency; counterfeiting currency; raising funds by means of fraud; arranging for or forcing another person to engage in prostitution; obstructing a commander or a person on duty from performing his duties; and fabricating rumors to mislead others during wartime.” Under the proposed law, individuals convicted of these nine crimes would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Currently 55 crimes are punishable by death in China. While China considers the number of executions carried out to be a state secret, independent organizations have estimated [Al Jazeera report] that 2,400 people were executed in 2013.

Italian advocacy group Hands off Cain [advocacy website] reported in July that the number of deaths by capital punishment increased [JURIST report] last year despite a general global trend toward capital punishment abolition. The NPC has previously contemplated [JURIST report] reducing the number of crimes punishable by death, announcing in March that various government departments were studying possible changes. In 2011 the NPC amended the national criminal law to remove 13 offenses [JURIST report] from the list of crimes subject to the death penalty. Those removed were non-violent economic crimes, including smuggling cultural relics, precious metals and rare animals; fraudulent activities with financial bills and letters of credit; fraudulent export tax refunds; teaching of crime-committing methods; and robbing ancient cultural ruins.