China, which executes more people than the rest of the world combined, has defended the use of the death penalty following the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
China considers the ultimate penalty an indispensable tool in its fight against crime and is not yet ready to give up the possibility of executing criminals, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
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"If the death penalty is abolished prematurely, it will trigger more crime," he said.
Hewas speaking one day after 33-year-old McVeigh was put to death by lethal injection for killing 168 people in the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which is the worst act of terrorism on US territory.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on McVeigh's execution, saying it belonged to the internal affairs of the United States.
A recent report by London-based rights group Amnesty International said at least 1,511 people were sentenced to death last year in China and 1,000 executed, although the true figures were believed to be far higher.
China has executed at least 1,000 convicted criminals in the six weeks after the startof a nationwide "strike hard" campaign against crime in April.
Executions in China no longer take place in public and are usually carried out with a single bullet to the back of the neck.Often prisoners' organs are removed for transplants.
AFP