BEIJING 鈥 China on Tuesday executed Bai Tianhui, a former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings, for taking bribes totaling 1.1 billion yuan ($156 million), state broadcaster CCTV said.
The company is a key offshore financing unit of troubled asset manager China Huarong Asset Management, known since 2024 as China CITIC Financial Asset Management.
One of China鈥檚 biggest bad debt managers, Huarong was set up to handle bad loans from state banks.
The amount of bribes taken by Mr. Bai was 鈥減articularly huge鈥 and 鈥渢he social impact was particularly pernicious, causing particularly serious losses to the interests of the state and the people,鈥 CCTV said.
Mr. Bai鈥檚 family was not reachable for comment.
CCTV said Mr. Bai exploited his senior positions at Huarong International Financial Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) and China Huarong International Holdings Ltd. from 2014 to 2018 to illegally accept money and assets.聽
Mr. Bai, sentenced to death in May 2024 by a court in China鈥檚 northern city of Tianjin, lost his appeal to a higher court in February, which was then approved by the country鈥檚 top court.
The execution was the latest in China鈥檚 anti-graft campaign that has been widened to the sprawling financial industry.
In 2021, China executed Lai Xiaomin, a former chairman of China Huarong, in one of its highest-profile graft cases after he was found guilty of receiving or seeking bribes totaling 1.79 billion yuan.
Huarong was renamed after its takeover by Citic Group in a government-orchestrated bailout in 2021. 鈥 Reuters
