(Selected from the translated work titled The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, authored by Robert Zhang and Steve Li, criminal defense lawyers registered in Shanghai, China.)
Article 50 [Change of Reprieve] Where an offender is sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, the death penalty shall be commuted to life imprisonment if they do not commit any intentional crime during the term of reprieve, or to twenty-five years of imprisonment if they provide rendering meritorious service, after the expiration of the two-year reprieve, or the death penalty shall be executed after approval by the Supreme People's Court if they commit any international crime under heinous circumstances. Where the death penalty is not executed notwithstanding an intentional crime during the term of reprieve, the term of reprieve shall be recalculated and the case shall be reported to the Supreme People's Court for record.
Where recidivist is sentenced to death with a reprieve, or an offender is sentenced to death with a reprieve for intentional homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, arson, causing an explosion, placing hazardous substance, or an organized violent crime, the people's court may make a decision to limit the commutation of their sentence depending on the circumstances of the crime.
