Qu Jianling is repatriated to China on October 29, 2022. Photo: ccdi.gov.cn

A Chinese fugitive with Red Notice from Interpol at large for 27 years was arrested overseas and repatriated to China thanks to the close cooperation between the Chinese and overseas law enforcement agencies, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) announced on Thursday.

The 52-year-old female fugitive named Qu Jianling used to be a financial manager at a subbranch bank of the Bank of China in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. She was suspected of embezzlement of huge amounts by taking advantage of her position, and fled abroad in November 1995. She changed her identity and fled to multiple countries on the lam.

The Chinese law enforcement departments finally discovered the clues to her hideouts and issued a red notice for her through Interpol.

Qu was finally brought to justice on October 29 through active international law enforcement cooperation between the police and the discipline inspection and supervisory commission in Guangdong and related overseas law enforcement agencies.

According to the central anti-corruption coordination group, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has made major deployment in deepening international cooperation against corruption and established a mechanism for chasing fugitives and recovering stolen assets. Qu's arrest fully demonstrates the CPC Central Committee's firm determination to fight corruption with zero tolerance. As long as there is still one person at large, the hunt will not stop, said the official of the central anti-corruption coordination group.

Deployed by the central anti-corruption coordination group since March 2015, China's "Sky Net" campaign is an important operation that involves tracking down fugitives suspected of involvement in graft, preventing corrupt officials from fleeing abroad and recovering illegal gains.

According to a work report from the CCDI to the 20th CPC National Congress released by Xinhua News Agency on October 27, statistics show that a total of 7,089 fugitives, including 61 of the 100 most-wanted Red Notice of Chinese fugitives, have been arrested over the past five years, with a total of 35.24 billion yuan ($4.83 billion) in illegal gains recovered. And 1,992 of them were former Party members or civil servants.

According to the report, China has strengthened international cooperation against corruption and in capturing fugitives and stolen assets over the past five years, endeavoring to establish a fairer and equitable international anti-corruption governance system. The country has strengthened international judicial and law enforcement cooperation, severely cracked down on corruption-related money laundering crimes, effectively curbed the flee of personnel and the outflow of stolen money, established and completed a sound coordination mechanism for cross-border corruption control.