CountryChina
Ministry responsible
Ministry of Justice (sentenced prisoners), Ministry of Public Security (pre-trial detainees and persons in administrative detention)
Prison administration
Prison Administration Bureau (MoJ)
Contact address
No.10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijing 100020, China (MoJ)
Telephone
+86 10 6520 6258 or 6213 (MoJ)
Fax
+86 10 6520 5866 or 5239 (MoJ)
Website
Head of prison administration (and title)
Liu Zhenyu (MoJ)
Director-General
Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners)
1 690 000
at 31.12.2018 (national prison administration - sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons only, excluding pre-trial detainees and those held in administrative detention). The Deputy Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate reported in 2009 that, in addition to the sentenced prisoners, more than 650,000 were held in detention centres In China; if this was still correct in 2018 the total prison population in China was at least 2,340,000. In addition, it is widely reported that about a million Uighur Muslims are detained in camps in Xinjiang province; no reliable figures are available.
Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population)
119
based on an estimated national population of 1.418 billion at 2018 (from United Nations figures) - sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons only. (A total prison population of 2,340,000 would raise the prison population rate to 165 per 100,000.)
Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage of prison population)
The total number of pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners is probably in excess of 200,000. This is based on a 2014 report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and an estimate of three months for the average length of pre-trial detention, not including time awaiting the result of appeals (Xiaowei Zhang in 'Pre-trial detention', van Kempen (editor), International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation, volume 44, 2012).
Female prisoners (percentage of prison population)
8.6%
(of sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons, 31.12.2018)
Juveniles / minors / young prisoners incl. definition (percentage of prison population)
0.8%
(of sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons, 31.12.2013)
Foreign prisoners (percentage of prison population)
0.4%
(of sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons, mid-2015)
Number of establishments / institutions
The Ministry of Justice holds sentenced prisoners in 683 prisons, including 41 prisons for females and 28 reformatories for juvenile delinquents.
Occupancy level (based on official capacity)
Not known.
Prison population trend
(year, prison population total, prison population rate)
2000 1,427,407 111
2002 1,512,194 119
2004 1,583,006 119
2006 1,710,641 118
2008 1,735,822 121
2010 1,656,773 121
2012 1,657,963 120
2014 1,649,804 118
2017 1,712,000 121
2000 1,427,407 111
2002 1,512,194 119
2004 1,583,006 119
2006 1,710,641 118
2008 1,735,822 121
2010 1,656,773 121
2012 1,657,963 120
2014 1,649,804 118
2017 1,712,000 121

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Female prison population: trend

The table below gives an indication of the trend in the female prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.

It consists of the number of female prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that female prisoners constituted on that day. 

The final column shows the female prison population rate per 100,000 of the national population.

                                                      CHINA

Year

Number of
female
prisoners

Percentage
of total
prison population

Female prison
population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

2000
2005
2010
2015

47,100
77,279
84,600
107,131

3.3%
4.9%
5.1%
6.5%

3.7
5.8
6.2
7.6

2018

145,000

8.6%

10.2

The above figures relate to sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons only, excluding pre-trial detainees and those held in administrative detention.

The number of female prisoners fluctuates and so the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.

The female prison population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.

(If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column).

Prison population total
Prison population rate