Yang Xiuzhu, number one on the red notice list, is sentenced to eight years in jail. Photo: VCG

The US harbors the largest number of Chinese fugitives suspected of corruption and economic crimes, and there are still 20 out of 100 most wanted corrupt Chinese fugitives on the Interpol's Red Notices hiding out in the US today, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China's top disciplinary watchdog.

Analysts have urged the incoming Biden administration to resume the China-US anti-graft cooperation disrupted by Trump administration ahead of the US presidential elections. 

The CCDI has published articles on three consecutive days since Friday slamming the US decision made abruptly in late October, just ahead of the US elections, to charge eight people with "involvement in China's Fox Hunt anti-graft campaign," smearing it as an operation that targets dissidents rather than economic crime suspects.

One of CCDI's articles accused the US of not only giving refuge to Chinese corrupt fugitives but also for being a "haven nation" for other developing countries' corrupt outlaws and their illicit incomes.

"Forty of the 100 most-wanted Red Notice Chinese fugitives had fled to the US, and 20 of them are still hiding in the country," it said.

The CCDI, citing African Union data, said that the continent has suffered losses of more than $50 billion in recent years due to illegal financial flows, and in the past fifty years, a total of $1 trillion was lost due to corruption and a substantial amount of that money has ended up flowing to the US.

The CCDI also refuted the claim that China's international anti-graft operation targets were "dissidents," calling the US move pure slander and an attempt to deceive the public in the name of so-called rule of law.

Infographic: GT

According to the CCDI, China has repatriated 7,831 corrupt fugitives and recovered more than 19.6 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) from more than 120 countries and regions as of June 2020, strongly proving that China's international anti-corruption efforts are a just cause that is acknowledged and supported by the international community.

Among the 7,831 corrupt fugitives, 348 are on the Interpol Red Notices and 60 are on the 100 most-wanted Red Notices.

Observers noted that the connection between the US accusation over "Fox Hunt" and its presidential election is obvious, saying it signaled an extreme anti-China sentiment and was an attempt to pull off a political low act to win over votes for the Trump administration.

Observers also urged the incoming Biden administration to reverse the irrational provocation in China-US justice cooperation and continue the previous close collaboration in international anti-corruption efforts.

The incoming Biden administration, despite constraints from congress and already extreme populist public sentiment, is expected to take a measured and reasonable approach in its China policies, rebuilding cooperation with China in fields including fighting the pandemic and climate change response, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday.