China executes two men found guilty of killing sprees

China has executed two men who committed deadly attacks that killed dozens in November, raising concerns about a surge in what is called “revenge-on-society crimes,” state media reported Monday.

Fan Weiqu, 62, was executed on Monday for ramming a car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China in November, killing 35. Police said Fan was upset over his divorce settlement.

Also executed was 21-year-old Xu Jiajin, who killed eight and injured 17 in a stabbing attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi. Police said that Xu had failed his examinations and couldn't graduate.

Fan's attack was the deadliest in the country since 2014 when a string of violent incidents rocked the western region of Xinjiang. At the time, Chinese leader Xi Jinping described the attack as “extremely vicious” and called for severe punishment, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China typically has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the world, partly due to its strict gun controls and mass surveillance techniques.

The killings spurred Chinese President Xi Jinping to urge local governments to take measures to prevent such attacks, known as "revenge society crimes." At the time, local officials vowed they would examine personal disputes that could trigger aggression, from marital troubles to disagreements over inheritance.

However, the increasing reach into people’s private lives raises concerns at a time when the Chinese state has already tightened its grip over all social and political aspects in the East Asian country.

The two men’s death sentences were issued by the intermediate people’s courts in the cities of Zhuhai and Wuxi, respectively, in December and approved by the Supreme People’s Court, according to state media.

China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the precise total is classified as a state secret. Executions are carried out by shooting, though lethal injections have also been introduced in recent years.