CHINA HAS executed a 35-year-old Filiipino man convicted of drug trafficking despite a clemency appeal from President Benigno Aquino III.

Philippine vice president Jejomar Binay said that the man, whose name has not been released, was allowed to meet briefly with family members who travelled out to China ahead of today’s execution in the Guangxi province.

The Philippine president had made a clemency appeal on humanitarian grounds, but officials say that the execution will not affect relations between the two countries.

The spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry told the media that the case was handled in accordance with Chinese law and that the relevant countries had been contacted.

Separately, China yesterday executed a woman convicted of forcing hundreds of woman into prostitution by confiscating their identification documents and their money.

Gang leader Wang Ziqi, who ran the Bright Spot Tea House, was accused of luring women into hotels and beauty salons before forcing them into prostitution in Chongqing, south-west China.

She and her male associate Gu Mingtao were executed today, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

China does not release data on the number of executions each year, but Amnesty International says it believes thousands were put to death there in 2010.

- Additional reporting by the AP