Corruption

China puts new focus on illicit assets in corruption fugitive hunt

China will step up efforts to recover stolen money taken overseas as part of its crackdown on corruption, state media said, after officials warned of the difficulty of tracking graft suspects and their illicit assets abroad.

Securing ill-gotten wealth from corrupt officials who have fled the country has been part of China's multi-agency "Sky Net" campaign launched in 2014, though authorities have especially touted the return of hundreds of fugitives.

China has been trying to get increased international cooperation to hunt down corrupt officials since President Xi Jinping began a war against graft nearly four years ago.

But some Western countries have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people back to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of criminal suspects remains a problem, and also complaining China is unwilling to provide proof of their crimes.