China executes 11 gang members from northern Myanmar telecom fraud rings

China on Thursday executed 11 members of gangs operating in northern Myanmar, including key figures in telecom fraud rings.

The 11 gang members were first sentenced to death in September 2025 by a court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province in eastern China, for crimes including intentional homicide, intentional injury, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling establishments.

When being asked about the case at the regular press conference on January 29, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, for some time, China has been actively working with Myanmar and other countries in combating crimes of cross-border telecom and online fraud, eliminating the scourge of online gambling and telecom fraud, protecting the safety of people's life and property and keeping the exchange and cooperation between regional countries in order. 

He noted that these efforts have achieved remarkable results. China will continue deepening international law enforcement cooperation, step up efforts of combating telecom fraud and online gambling and other related cross-border crimes and eradicate the problems of gambling and scams.

The gang members appealed the verdict, but the appeal was rejected in November 2025 by the Higher People's Court of Zhejiang Province, which upheld the original judgment and submitted the case to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) for review as required by law.

The SPC later approved the death sentences. Upon review, the top court confirmed that since 2015, these criminals had established multiple operational bases in Myanmar to engage in telecom fraud, operate illegal gambling dens and commit other crimes.

According to the SPC, the funds involved in fraud and gambling exceeded 10 billion RMB (about $1.4 billion). The gangs also intentionally murdered, assaulted and illegally detained people involved in fraud, resulting in the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and causing injuries to others.

The executions were carried out by the Wenzhou court after obtaining the SPC's approval.

(With input from Xinhua.)