A BEIJING madam has been sentenced to death 'for arranging and hosting prostitution'.
Ma Yulan, 41, is the first person to receive the punishment since the death penalty was introduced for the crime last year.
Under the revised Criminal Law, operating a prostitution ring carries the death sentence and other penalties such as the confiscation of all personal property.
It was reported that Ma employed at least 12 young women as prostitutes at the restaurant and sauna.
Most of the women, aged 16 to 32, came from the poorer provinces of Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Sichuan.
Ma had a varied, wide range of clients including the unemployed, construction workers, taxi drivers and factory managers. Government officials were also said to have frequented her establishment.