A man jailed in China more than two decades ago for murder was acquitted on Monday, the latest in a series of wrongful convictions overturned in the country.

Chen Man was handed a suspended death sentence for killing a man on China's southern island province Hainan in November 1994.

But the high court of China's eastern Zhejiang province, where he was originally convicted, pronounced Chen not guilty due to "lack of evidence", it said on a social media account Monday.

The case is the latest to highlight miscarriages of justice in China, where forced confessions are widespread and more than 99 percent of criminal defendants are found guilty.

China's top court ordered Chen's case to be re-opened in April 2015 after he appealed.

Chen -- who is in his early 50s -- was convicted solely on the basis of confessions which were "inconsistent" during two trials which convicted him, court judge Zhang Qin said in a statement on Monday.

China's courts are tightly controlled by the ruling Communist party, which has vowed to overturn mistaken verdicts in the face of widespread public anger.

Of those exonerated in recent years, Chen spent the longest time in prison, state media said. For others, the new verdicts have come too late.

A court in the Inner Mongolia region in 2014 cleared a man named Hugjiltu, who was convicted, sentenced and executed for rape and murder in 1996 at the age of 18.

The declaration of innocence came nine years after another man confessed to the crime.

Twenty-seven officials in China have been "penalised" for his wrongful execution, state news agency Xinhua reported late Sunday.

But only one person will face criminal prosecution, it added, with 26 others facing lighter "administrative penalties".

Double murder suspect held in Hong Kong says he is ill
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 1, 2016 - A Chinese national arrested in Hong Kong and accused of murdering his two teenage nephews in the United States was taken to hospital on Monday after complaining he is "muddle-headed".

Shi Deyun was detained by police at Hong Kong airport last month after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles.

The 44-year-old has been in custody pending a US extradition request but complained of feeling unwell when he appeared in court on Monday for a bail hearing.

"I am muddle headed now... I know that my condition is poor," he told the city's Eastern Magistrates' Court.

He also said he felt threatened.

"I feel a lot of people (are) surrounding me trying to kill me," said Shi, looking dazed in a grey suit.

The court's duty magistrate refused to grant bail and ordered Shi to be sent to hospital for a check-up.

Shi is accused of murdering his nephews, aged 15 and 16, after his wife filed for divorce, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The bodies of the boys were discovered by their mother at their home in the city.

Both teens had suffered blunt force trauma, the paper reported.

Media reports said Shi was heading to mainland China, which unlike Hong Kong does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

But Shi denied he was fleeing, saying that he was heading to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen via Hong Kong to deal with business.

According to Hong Kong police, once his extradition has been approved, US marshals will collect Shi from Hong Kong within 30 days.