BEIJING, China—China has intensified its nationwide anti-corruption campaign within the financial sector, carrying out the death sentence on a former senior banker after he was convicted of taking bribes totaling over $156 million. The severe measure underscores the Chinese government’s relentless stance against high-level financial crime.
According to international media reports, the executed individual, Bai Tianhui, was a former General Manager at a private bank. The charges against him stated that between 2014 and 2018, he accepted more than $156 million in bribes in exchange for providing special favors in project acquisitions and financing.
This action follows the execution of Lai Xiaomin, the former Chairman of the same bank, who was also sentenced to death in 2021 for similar charges of massive corruption.
Immediate Execution Despite Appeals
Bai Tianhui was originally sentenced to death in May of this year. Unlike many corruption cases in China where the death penalty is handed down with a two-year reprieve that is later commuted to life imprisonment, Bai’s sentence was not suspended. His appeal was denied, and the Supreme People’s Court upheld the execution, stating that Bai’s crimes were of an “extremely serious” nature that caused “immense damage” to the interests of the state and the public.
International media reported that Bai Tianhui was executed this morning. However, authorities did not disclose the specifics of the procedure used to carry out the sentence.
