CHINA has executed a mining tycoon, who once launched a billion-dollar bid for an Australian mining firm, for leading an organised crime gang.
LIU Han, 48, was convicted of murder, illegal gambling, extortion and selling firearms over a two-decade period, the South China Morning Post reported.
He gained international prominence after his Sichuan-based Hanlong Group failed in a billion-dollar takeover bid for Australian mining company Sundance.
The group's interests include energy, mining, finance, real estate and securities.
He was executed along with his brother Liu Wei, 35, and three others on connected charges, the report said, citing the Xianning city intermediate court.
Liu Han has been linked to Zhou Bin, the son of a former security chief of the ruling Communist Party whose family is under investigation for corruption.
Liu allegedly paid higher than market prices in contracts with Zhou in 2002 to "maintain (political) connections," the Beijing News reported in March.
Hanlong was fined 300 million yuan ($A61.88 million) in 2014 for crimes including using fraudulent information to secure bank loans, the report said.
Last year, Liu was ranked among China's wealthiest 1000 people, with assets worth an estimated $US650 million ($A837.90 million).
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