China catches 20 more economic fugitives overseas

BEIJING - The Ministry of Public Security on Thursday said 20 more "economic fugitives" have been captured since it launched a new round in a campaign early this month to hunt economic suspects who have fled abroad.

"Fox Hunt 2015," a Chinese program to track down economic suspects, including corrupt government officials, and recover their assets kicked off at the beginning of April following success last year.

According to the ministry, a suspect with the surname Gong who allegedly raised funds fraudulently was seized by police in Zhejiang on April 1 after fleeing to Myanmar.

On April 2, Shanghai police persuaded a fugitive with the surname Qiao,who was suspected of falsifying value-added tax invoices, to return to China.

In two other cases, two fugitives allegedly involved in economic crimes were arrested by police in Hebei and Shandong provinces, respectively.

The ministry vowed to improve the database of economic fugitives overseas in order to advance the operation.

As part of last year's Fox Hunt 2014 campaign, 680 fugitives were repatriated to China.