The father and sister of Nie Shubin react after hearing Nie is exonerated in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, Dec 2, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

A 21-year-old man was pardoned on Friday in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, more than two decades after his execution.

Nie Shubin, who worked in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, was sentenced to death in 1995 for the rape and murder of a woman the year before.

The Second Circuit Court, one of the arms of the Supreme People's Court, announced his acquittal on Friday morning, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove Nie's guilt.

His mother Zhang Huanzhi, who spent 20 years fighting to clear her son's name, witnessed the announcement accompanied by the family's lawyer, Li Shuting, as well as a number of other observers.

"I'm satisfied with the result. I've been expecting today for too long," Zhang said.

The case first returned to public attention in 2005, when a man named Wang Shujin was detained in Hebei for another rape and murder. Wang confessed to the crimes for which Nie was executed, too.

Nie's case was reopened, but in 2013 the Hebei Provincial High People's Court declared that Wang's confession did not relate to Nie's case and submitted its findings to the Supreme People's Court.

One year later, the top court ordered Shandong Provincial High People's Court to investigate the case again, which took over a year.

On June 15, the top court said that it had decided to ask the Second Circuit Court to retry the case following a review, as it found the original conviction for rape and homicide was based on insufficient evidence.