By IANS,
Beijing : The Chinese government has said that as many as 76 government officials who were on the run in foreign countries and are accused of committing job-related crimes in the last five years, have been traced and apprehended, Xinhua reported Monday.
According to the Ministry for Supervision, during this period, more than 500 fugitives of economic-related crimes were also captured from outside China. These include government officials.
“China has made remarkable achievements since the 17th Party Congress in 2007 in tracking down suspects on the run and in preventing law-breaking and rule-violating government officials from escaping the country,” a ministry statement said Monday.
Authorities have coordinated efforts and strengthened international cooperation in tracking down corrupt officials, the statement said.
Since 2007, via extradition, repatriation or persuasion, smuggling ring boss Lai Changxing as well as Gao Shan, former director of the Bank of China Hesongjie Branch in China’s Heilongjiang province, among other fugitives, have been repatriated from Canada, the US and the South Korea to China after years on the run.
China’s ministry for public security has tightened rules on the issuance of entry-exit certificates. Since 2008, it has uncovered 184 government officials who attempted to use fraudulent identity documents to obtain passports.