The Supreme People’s Court (SPC), China’s most senior judicial body, will seek legislative changes so that the death penalty is used less frequently, state media reported. Speaking to Legal Daily newspaper, Zhang Jun, vice president of the SPC, said courts would commute more cases to life imprisonment. Criminals who show good behavior may then have their sentences reduced to 20 years or less. “As it is impossible for the country to abolish capital punishment under current realities and social security conditions, it is an important effort to strictly control the application of the penalty by judicial organs," Zhang said. The SPC, which reviews and ratifies all death sentences, overturned 15% of sentences handed down in 2007 and 10% in 2008. According to Amnesty International, China executes more people than any other country in the world, with at least 1,718 put to death last year.