JINAN - The higher people's court in East China's Shandong province has decided to extend the review of a rape and murder case in which a young man was executed 20 years ago, only to have another man confess to the crime years later.

The review of the case of Nie Shubin will end Sept 15, three months later than the previous deadline, due to the "significance, difficulty and complexity" of the case, Xinhua learned from the court.

Zhu Yunsan, presiding judge of the review panel, announced the decision, which was approved by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), to Nie's family and their two lawyers on Thursday.

Nie, a native of Hebei province, which neighbors Shandong, was 21 when he was convicted and executed for the rape and murder of a woman in Hebei's capital, Shijiazhuang. However, in 2005, Wang Shujin said he was responsible for the crime.

In December 2014, five judges from the provincial higher court started to review the case. Nie's family lawyers were allowed to read the case files.

The case is similar to a 1996 case from Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where a teenager named Huugjilt was executed for the rape and murder of a woman in June 1996. A self-confessed serial rapist and killer later admitted to the crime while in police custody in 2005.

In December 2014, Huugjilt was acquitted by the regional higher people's court. His parents were awarded state compensation of more than 2 million yuan (327,060 US dollars).