BEIJING: China executed Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), for accepting more than $156 million in bribes, state media reported Tuesday.
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Bai was found guilty of offering favourable treatment in project acquisitions and financing between 2014 and 2018. CHIH is a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management, one of the country’s largest state-controlled asset management firms focused on bad-debt management.
China on Tuesday executed Bai Tianhui, former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings Limited, after being convicted of bribery.
The execution was carried out by a court in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, following the approval of the Supreme People’s Court. pic.twitter.com/kHMF7nv5bz— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) December 9, 2025
The anti-corruption crackdown targeting Huarong has been a key priority for President Xi Jinping, with previous executives facing severe punishment. Bai’s predecessor, Lai Xiaomin, was executed in January 2021 for receiving $253 million in bribes. Several other Huarong executives have also been investigated in recent years for corruption.
Bai Tianhui, a former senior executive at China Huarong, was executed today after the Supreme People’s Court approved his death sentence for taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$150 million) in bribes.https://t.co/qt9VCPNjCU pic.twitter.com/FxtIaEKbrE
— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) December 9, 2025
Bai’s death sentence was first handed down in May 2024 by a Tianjin court and was upheld on appeal in February 2025. Unlike many corruption cases in China where death sentences come with a two-year reprieve and are later commuted to life imprisonment, Bai’s sentence was carried out without suspension. The Supreme People’s Court confirmed the ruling, stating that Bai’s crimes were “extremely serious” and caused significant losses to the state and society.
According to CCTV, Bai was executed in Tianjin on Tuesday morning after meeting with close relatives. China does not publicly release detailed death penalty statistics, but human rights groups estimate thousands are executed annually. The anti-corruption campaign has also seen high-profile figures such as Li Xiaopeng of Everbright Group and Liu Liange of the Bank of China sentenced for bribery in recent years.
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Supporters of the crackdown argue it ensures clean governance in China’s finance industry, while critics suggest it also allows President Xi to consolidate power and eliminate political rivals. Bai Tianhui’s execution marks the latest in a long line of high-profile anti-corruption cases in the country.