Backgrounder: Lethal injection -- from bullets to needles

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Lethal injection was made legal in China in 1997, becoming an alternative form of execution. Over the years, an increasing number of Chinese cities have adopted it as the main execution method. However, due to barriers in technical procedures as well as public opinion, lethal injection is yet to completely replace shooting as a more humane way of executing the condemned.

China's first lethal injection took place in March, 1997.

It was introduced with the intention that it would eventually replace death by shooting, reducing the pain for those condemned.

However, more than a decade on, the move to lethal injection from bullets still faces a number of hurdles.

The first obstacle is the high cost.

An execution site for lethal injection costs more than a million yuan, and the drugs for a single injection cost over 300 yuan. The law enforcement institutions such as the intermediate people's court are obliged to provide the facilities and medicine free of charge. So far, only developed urban regions are financially equipped to implement this practice.

Second, the rulings to decide when to carry out shooting and when to use lethal injection are rather unclear.