China executes mafia-style mining tycoon

Liu Han, former chairman of Hanlong Group was sentenced to death in May for "leading mafia-style crime and murder".

Chinese media reported that Liu's younger brother Liu Wei, and three other associates were also executed on the same day.

Liu was believed to have had links to former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is currently being investigated.

The Hanglong Group is a private conglomerate based in the province of Sichuan, and it is involved in various industries like mining, telecommunications and chemicals.

The BBC reports that the company, which had been "harboured and indulged by government officials, had illegally monopolised the gaming business in Guanghan City in Sichuan province, tyrannised local people and seriously harmed the local economic and social order".

Reports show that, several top officials from Sichuan province have come under scrutiny in recent months.

Sichuan was a power base of Zhou Yongkang, China's former domestic security chief who is now himself, the subject of a corruption probe.

Zhou was the party secretary in Sichuan before becoming head of China's public security ministry in 2003. He was subsequently arrested in December 2014 and he is the latest and by far the most senior figure to be handed over to prosecutors as part of President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption.

Official reports do not specifically link Liu's case with Mr Zhou. The South China Morning Post reports Liu was an associate of Zhou Bin, Mr Zhou's son.