PARIS — The French Foreign Ministry condemned China's execution of Chan Thao Phoumy, a 62-year-old French citizen who had been convicted of drug trafficking and spent more than 15 years on death row. Phoumy was executed in the city of Guangzhou in southern China.

A Chinese court sentenced Phoumy to death in 2010 on drug trafficking charges. In the years that followed, French authorities appealed for clemency on behalf of their citizen. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and the execution was carried out more than a decade and a half after the original court ruling.

The French Foreign Ministry expressed consternation over the execution and extended condolences to Phoumy's family. The ministry also raised concerns about the legal proceedings, stating that Phoumy's defense team did not have access to the final court hearing in his case. The ministry said the lack of access to the final court hearing constituted a violation of Phoumy's rights.

France abolished the death penalty by an act of parliament in 1981 and campaigns against the use of capital punishment and for its global abolition.

The Chinese Embassy in Paris responded with a statement defending the country's legal system. "China treats defendants of all nationalities equally, handles all cases impartially and strictly in accordance with the law," the embassy said. The statement did not directly address France's objections regarding the defense team's exclusion from the final court hearing or the clemency appeals that French authorities had made on Phoumy's behalf.

Amnesty International says China is the world's leading executioner, sentencing and executing thousands of people annually. China carries out executions by firing squads or lethal injections.