E-Paper
India, China find synergy in anti-corruption move
China will establish a research centre on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery to tackle financial corruption, President Xi Jinping announced on Monday, echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to deal strictly with economic offenders.
China will establish a research centre on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery to tackle financial corruption, President Xi Jinping announced on Monday, echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to deal strictly with economic offenders.
Xi’s announcement came hours after Modi made an intervention during a formal session of the G20 and called for eliminating “safe havens” for financial offenders. He also asked G20 leaders to unconditionally extradite money launderers and end excessive banking secrecy.
Modi said during his intervention that “fighting corruption and black money was central to effective financial governance”.
Soon after, Xi announced that G20 members had agreed to “advance anti-corruption campaign, including the establishment of a research centre on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery in China”.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the two-day G20 Summit in the lakeside city of Hangzhou, Xi said important breakthroughs were made in the anti-graft area this year in terms of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery.
G20 leaders also framed high level principles on persons sought for corruption and asset recovery, and a G20 anti-corruption action plan for 2017-2018, Xi said.
“(These) will leave corrupt officials no place to hide in G20 members' territories and in the world at large,” he said.
Following “Fox Hunt 2014”, which targeted corrupt officials and suspected economic criminals who have fled China, a new campaign code-named "Sky Net" was launched in 2015. According to China’s state media, the new programme sought to bring “more government departments on board, including not only party organs and law enforcement agencies, but also the central bank and diplomatic services”.
Till the end of 2015, more than 800 Chinese were repatriated to China and charged with corruption.
The G20 communique referred to the anti-corruption campaign and said: “We commit to continue the G20 Denial of Entry Experts Network. Consistent with our national legal systems, we will work on cross-border cooperation and information sharing between law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies and judicial authorities.”
