A man has been executed for beating a Beijing policeman to death last year in north China's Shanxi Province.

The Shanxi Provincial Higher People's Court sentence Zhou Chuanquan to death on Dec. 21. and he was executed by shooting on Saturday.

Zhou had served 17 years in jail until 2003 for theft, assault and battery as well as racketeering.

The court also sentenced Liu Limin, a local policeman, to death with a two-year reprieve for organizing the murder of his colleague Li Zhongyi. Seven other people involved were sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine to 15 years.

The murder occurred on May 3, 2005 when Beijing policeman Li quarreled with Liu after their vehicles nearly collided at a road crossing in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province.

After the encounter, Liu followed Li's jeep to the Xintangdu Hotel where Li and his family were staying on holiday.

Liu called Zhou and seven other people. They waited outside the hotel to take revenge on Li.

When Li appeared, Liu and his accomplices beat him with wooden planks, sticks and aluminium alloy pipes before fleeing the scene.

The Beijing policeman died at a local hospital after failing to respond to medical treatment.

The defendants appealed after Taiyuan Intermediate People's Court headed down a death sentence in April, but the higher court upheld the first ruling.

Zhou's execution was the last death sentence reviewed by the Shanxi provincial higher court, said its spokesman.

Starting Jan.1, 2007, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) will handle all death penalty reviews in an effort to avoid miscarriages of justice.

The death penalty will be administered very cautiously in criminal cases involving disputes between families and neighbors, according to the SPC.

"But for extremely notorious criminal cases with overwhelming evidence, a death penalty with immediate execution will be passed down without hesitation," said the SPC spokesman.

Source: Xinhua