Source: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/homicide-rate-unodc

Homicides:

Rank 76 of 196: United States - 4.96 homicides per 100k people

Rank 178 of 196: China - 0.53 homicides per 100k people

Source: Crime Rate by Country

Other crimes:

USA: 714.4 burglaries per 100k people; China: 90.7 burglaries per 100k people

USA: 146.4 robberies per 100k people; China: 24.5 robberies per 100k people

USA: 786.7 assaults per 100k people; China: 9.5 assaults per 100k people

USA: 390.2 auto thefts per 100k people; China: 35.5 auto thefts per 100k people

USA: 281.6 serious assaults per 100k people; China: 0.2 serious assaults per 100k people

Source: Crime Stats: compare key data on China & United States (DISCLAIMER: This data seems fairly outdated…the sources appear to range from 2002 to 2011; China has changed enormously since then… if someone has more up to date info feel free to share)

More up to date reports:

"China is one of the countries with the lowest rates of homicide, criminal offenses, and gun-related incidents globally, as the public security situation has remained stable and improved over the past five years, according to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on Monday.

In 2023, the total number of criminal cases filed by public security organs nationwide decreased 12.9 percent, and the number of public security cases handled decreased 9.7 percent, compared with 2019. Among them, the number of serious violent criminal cases such as explosions and murders decreased 10.7 percent. The homicide rate in China was 0.46 per 100,000 people, said Li Guozhong, a MPS spokesperson, at a press briefing."

Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202405/1313108.shtml

"The number of people charged with serious violent crimes plummeted to 61,000 in 2023 from 162,000 in 1999, the report said, noting that 9,171 people were prosecuted for offenses related to guns or explosions last year, down 11.09 percent compared with 2022.

At the same time, the percentage of offenders sentenced to three years or less in prison for minor crimes among the total number of offenders rose from 54.4 percent in 1999 to 82.3 percent in 2023, the report said. In China, a prison term of three years or less, is generally considered misdemeanor."

[…]

In addition, China intensified its fight against crime in the fields of finance, intellectual property and internet last year, endeavoring to maintain financial stability, optimize the business environment and purge the cyberspace of malpractices.

According to the report, more than 185,000 people were prosecuted for financial crimes in the past five years, up 28.2 percent compared with the previous five years. The number of intellectual property cases concluded by Chinese courts in 2023 was about 490,000, up 1.8 percent year-on-year, it said."

Source: https://epaper.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202405/21/WS664bd965a310df4030f51aa4.html

Anecdotally, most people who travel to China say it’s one of the safest countries in the world, in particular very safe for women (or anyone really) to walk alone at night without fear in any major city as well as on public transportation.

The greatest dangers for tourists appear to be: a) silent electric vehicles, especially electric scooters which people from other countries who are used to hearing loud engines may not notice and step in front of accidentally, and b) getting scammed by taxi drivers and/or overpriced shops in very touristy areas.

All in all China is much safer than the US. And this with an incarceration rate five times lower than that of the US (China: 120 per 100k in 2017, USA: 540 per 100k in 2024, down from 650 in 2019), which means a lower total number of prisoners despite having over four times the population, and likely with much shorter sentences on average.

And finally, here’s a funny stat re: “China” vs US crime

(A reminder that correlation does not equal causation. This is just an amusing coincidence.)