BEIJING -- China is very prudent in its use of the death penalty to punish economic criminals, the Communist Party of China's disciplinary watchdog said on Thursday.

"We are very prudent in using the death penalty to execute perpetrators of economic crimes and the number of death penalties handed down to economic criminals is very small," Gan Yisheng, spokesman for the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said at a press conference.

"China has so far kept the death penalty system and the death penalty is applicable to serious economic crimes," he said.

Gan's remarks came when a journalist from Agences France Presse questioned the severity of the punishment given to Zheng Xiaoyu, who was executed on July 10 for corruption during his tenure as director of China's State Food and Drug Administration.

"The reason for Zheng Xiaoyu's death sentence was that the bribes he took were huge and he committed serious crimes," said Gan.

Zheng, 63, was sentenced to death on May 29 by the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court after being found guilty of taking 6.49 million yuan (US$850,000) in bribes and dereliction of duty.

Gan said Zheng's punishment was supported by the Chinese people and also appraised by the international community.

"Different countries have different circumstances and have different cultural backgrounds and views on the death penalty. They also have different legal regulations, which is very natural," said Gan.

"The fact that China keeps the death penalty is due to its national conditions and cultural background. There is nothing to be criticized," he said.

"Moreover, we have very strict controls on the death penalty and all the death penalty decisions need to be reviewed by the Supreme People's Court," he added.

On January 1, 2007, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) retrieved the right to review all death penalty decisions made by lower courts, ending its 24-year absence in approving China's execution verdicts.