China targets corrupt officials who have fled overseas

China launched a new round of special operation Sky Net 2024, targeting corrupt officials who had fled overseas on Thursday.

The Fugitive Repatriation and Asset Recovery Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group held a meeting to deploy the work of international pursuit of fugitives, asset recovery and transnational anti-corruption governance for 2024, and initiated the operation.

The authorities aim to promote the construction of mechanism integrating pursuing fugitives, preventing flight and recovering assets.

Amid this year's operation, the National Commission of Supervision (NSC) will lead a special action for international pursuit of fugitives and recovery of assets obtained by these fugitives. The Ministry of Public Security will carry out the "Fox Hunt" special action, which targets economic fugitives.

The People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Public Security will conduct a special action to prevent and combat the transfer of illicit funds overseas through offshore companies and underground banks. The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate will carry out a special action to pursue assets in cases where criminal suspects or defendants have fled or died.

Besides, the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Ministry of Public Security will conduct special inspections to address the irregular handling and possession of documents.

The communique of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of CPC, released in January this year, emphasized the need to focus on rectifying issues related to transnational corruption.

According to Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and NCS, China repatriated over 1,200 fugitives, including 140 Party members and government officials and recovered 2.91 billion yuan ($404.48 million) of embezzled funds in the process last year.