China has executed a former top executive of a state-owned asset management company for corruption, state media reported on Tuesday.
Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), was convicted of receiving more than $156 million in bribes between 2014 and 2018.
According to CCTV, Bai used his position to grant preferential treatment in project acquisitions and financing deals.
CHIH is a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management, one of the country’s largest firms specializing in distressed-asset management and a major target of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
The crackdown previously claimed Huarong’s former chairman Lai Xiaomin, who was executed in January 2021 for taking $253 million in bribes.
Several other executives from the company have also faced investigation.
No Suspended Sentence
While death sentences for corruption in China often carry a two-year reprieve that may be commuted to life imprisonment, Bai’s punishment was carried out immediately.
A Tianjin court initially sentenced him in May 2024. Bai appealed, but the judgment was upheld in February, and China’s Supreme People’s Court confirmed the ruling after review, describing his crimes as “extremely serious.”
According to the SPC:
“Bai accepted an exceptionally large amount of bribes, the circumstances were extremely serious, the social impact especially egregious, and the state and the people suffered exceptionally significant losses.”
State media said Bai met with close family members before his execution on Tuesday morning. The method of execution was not disclosed.
Part of a Wider Crackdown
China keeps execution figures classified, but human rights groups estimate that the country carries out thousands each year.
Bai’s execution is the latest in a wave of high-profile anti-corruption cases across China’s financial sector:
Yi Huiman, former chief of China’s top securities regulator, was investigated in September.
Li Xiaopeng, ex-head of Everbright Group, received a 15-year sentence in March for taking 60 million yuan in bribes.
Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension in November 2024 for accepting 121 million yuan in bribes.
Supporters say Xi’s anti-corruption drive promotes clean governance, while critics argue it also serves as a tool to neutralize political rivals