Highlights of the report include: 1) in 2008, the total number of sentenced persons admitted to correctional institutions decreased by 5 percent to 17,974 from 18,874 in 2007; 2) the total number of male receptions decreased by 6 percent to 12,091 compared with 12,924 in 2007; 3) female receptions dropped slightly by 1 percent to 5, 883; 4) 9 percent of total admissions were aged under 21, slightly higher than 8 percent in 2007; 5) receptions of offenders sentenced to prisons decreased by 6 percent from 16,751 in 2007 to 15,817 in 2008, mainly due to the decrease of Mainland Chinese prisoners; 6) the average length of sentence of prisoners admitted had been decreasing from 10.7 months in 1999 to 6.5 in 2004, rebounding in the subsequent 4 years to 9.4 months in 2008; 7) receptions into drug addiction treatment centers decreased by 4 percent from 1,372 in 2007 to 1,316 in 2008; and 8) 4,551 offenders were reported to be drug abusers on reception into custody in 2008 representing a decrease of 1 percent from 2007. This statistical report provides descriptions of all persons sentenced to correctional institutions in China for 2008. Tables