Former China Huarong manager Bai Tianhui executed for accepting over $156 million in bribes, marking a severe sentence in Xi’s anti-corruption drive
BEIJING: China executed a former senior executive of a major state-owned asset management firm for corruption on Tuesday.
Bai Tianhui, ex-general manager of China Huarong International Holdings, was convicted of accepting bribes exceeding $156 million.
State broadcaster CCTV reported he provided favourable treatment in project acquisitions and financing between 2014 and 2018.
His parent company, China Huarong Asset Management, is a leading bad-debt manager and a frequent target in President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign.
Huarong’s former chairman, Lai Xiaomin, was executed in January 2021 for taking $253 million in bribes.
Several other executives from the firm have also been ensnared in corruption investigations.
While death sentences for graft are often suspended and commuted, Bai’s sentence from a Tianjin court in May 2024 carried no reprieve.
His appeal was rejected in February, with the Supreme People’s Court upholding the original verdict.
The court stated Bai’s crimes were “extremely serious” and caused major losses to state and public interests.
“(Bai) accepted bribes of an exceptionally large amount, the circumstances of his crimes were exceptionally serious, the social impact was especially egregious,” CCTV quoted the court as saying.
He was executed in Tianjin on Tuesday morning after a final meeting with close relatives.
China treats death penalty statistics as a state secret, though rights groups estimate thousands of executions occur annually.
Bai’s case is the latest in a sweeping crackdown on corruption within China’s financial industry.
In September, former securities regulator chief Yi Huiman was placed under investigation for graft.
Li Xiaopeng, ex-head of Everbright Group, received a 15-year prison sentence in March for taking 60 million yuan in bribes.
Liu Liange, former Bank of China chairman, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in November 2024 for 121 million yuan in bribes.
The anti-corruption campaign is praised by supporters for promoting clean governance.
Critics, however, argue it also serves to consolidate power and purge political rivals. – AFP
