China's manhunt operation brings back over 600 fugitives in half year

BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 602 fugitives, including 164 Party members and government personnel, have been brought back to China in the first half of this year amid China's continued global manhunt for duty-related crime suspects, according to the country's top anti-graft body.

About 15.15 billion yuan (around 2.34 billion U.S. dollars) in illicit gains was recovered during the period, said a report on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Supervisory Commission.

China launched a fugitive-hunting campaign codenamed "Sky Net 2021" in late February, targeting those who fled abroad in recent years, ranked above the county level, and whose cases involved a large amount of money and caused a bad political influence and strong public reactions.

Among the latest returned was Luo Weimin, one of China's most wanted graft fugitives suspected of duty-related crimes. Luo has surrendered himself to the authorities 15 years after fleeing China.

Born in February 1962, Luo used to own a private company based in Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province. He had allegedly offered bribes to the management of a state-owned enterprise.

In its global fugitive-hunting operation, China has increasingly emphasized the pursuit of both parties involved in corruption -- those who take bribes and those who offer them.

In 2020, 129 fugitives suspected of offering bribes were returned to China, including one who was brought back after a span of 19 years. Among them, 97 were brought back in the year of their flight, accounting for 75 percent of the total, figures from the report showed.