Lai Xiaomin, the former Huarong chairman, was executed in 2021 for bribery. While most Chinese officials and executives facing death sentences on corruption charges have been given reprieve in recent years, those that caused massive losses or severe conditions get no respite. Huarong is a key offshore financing unit of troubled asset manager China Huarong Asset Management, which was renamed China Citic Financial Asset Management in January after it was taken over by state-owned conglomerate Citic Group. China President Xi Jinping has shifted his policy focus to tackling financial risks as his administration tries to stabilise the world's second largest economy. At a Politburo meeting on Monday, Xi told the nation's financial regulators and local governments to shoulder greater responsibility for defusing risks.