Punishment and penal policies in the People's Republic of China

Enshen Li

Chapter 16 in Research Handbook on Penal Policy, 2026, pp 311-329 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Punishment and penal policy in the People's Republic of China reveal multiple, often contrasting, dimensions. Chapter 16 offers an account of the rationales, structures, and evolution of Chinese penal policy and practice, tracing their development under successive leaderships in contemporary China. Adopting a historical and socio-legal perspective, it addresses three key themes of Chinese penality. First, it analyzes the country's dual-track penal system, which distinguishes between criminal and administrative punishment. Second, it examines two influential crime control strategies ‒ ‘Strike Hard Against Crime’ and ‘Combining Leniency with Severity’ ‒ that have shaped penal practices since the 1980s. Finally, the chapter explores the distinctive penal shifts that have emerged under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, situating them within broader political and ideological transformations.

Keywords: Penal policy; China; Strike Hard Against Crime; Combining Leniency with Severity; Punishment; Social stability and penal power (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308521
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035308538.00027 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22152_16

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().