China executed Bai Tianhui, a former executive at a major state-controlled asset management firm, on Tuesday for corruption, according to state media.
Bai, who once served as general manager of China Huarong International Holdings, was convicted of taking over $156 million in bribes while providing favorable treatment in project acquisitions and financing between 2014 and 2018, CCTV reported.
CHIH, a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management, manages bad debts and ranks among the country’s largest asset management funds.
The firm has been a key target in President Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign, which previously saw the execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin in January 2021 for accepting bribes totaling $253 million.
Several other Huarong executives have also been ensnared in investigations.
While China often issues death sentences for corruption with a two-year reprieve, typically commuted to life imprisonment, Bai’s sentence, initially handed down in May 2024 by a Tianjin court, was carried out without suspension.
His appeal, filed after the original verdict, was rejected in February.
The Supreme People’s Court, China’s highest judicial body, upheld the ruling, describing Bai’s crimes as “extremely serious,” CCTV reported. “(Bai) accepted bribes of an exceptionally large amount, the circumstances of his crimes were exceptionally serious, the social impact was especially egregious, and the interests of the state and the people suffered exceptionally significant losses,” the court said.
Bai was executed in Tianjin on Tuesday morning following a meeting with close relatives, though the method of execution was not disclosed. China does not publicly release death penalty statistics, but human rights groups estimate that thousands are executed annually.
Bai joins a string of high-ranking finance officials targeted in Xi’s long-running crackdown. Recent cases include Yi Huiman, former chief of China’s top securities regulator, who came under investigation in September; Li Xiaopeng, former head of state-owned Everbright Group, sentenced in March to 15 years for taking bribes of 60 million yuan; and Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, who received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve in November 2024 for accepting bribes totaling 121 million yuan.
Supporters argue that the campaign fosters clean governance, while critics claim it allows Xi to consolidate power and remove political rivals.
