BEIJING - A man from south China's Guangdong Province was pronounced innocent by a local court after being sentenced to death for murder 13 years ago.

Xu Hui, a local of Zhuhai city in Guangdong, was given the death penalty with two-year reprieve for raping and killing a 19-year-old girl by the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court in 2001.

Xu repeatedly protested his innocence but all the appeals were rejected by local courts until the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) found the suspect's confession contradicted evidence provided in 2007.

Under the instruction of the SPP, the People's Procuratorate in Guangdong suggested the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court rehear the case in 2008. On Sept. 9, 2014, the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court brought in a verdict of not guilty.