China is drafting a new law aimed at building a permanent legal framework for its overseas anti-corruption work, covering the pursuit of fugitives, asset recovery and oversight of officials posted abroad.
“Sky Net” campaign yields strong results
Between 2017 and 2022, China's Sky Net campaign brought back 6,900 fugitives from overseas and recovered 32.79 billion yuan, or about 4.9 billion dollars, in illicit assets, according to official figures. In 2025 alone, authorities opened 505 cross border corruption cases and repatriated 963 fugitives. All Asia based suspects on Interpol's list of its 100 most wanted Red Notice fugitives have now been returned, a process completed in July 2025 when businesswoman Zhou Jinghua was repatriated from Thailand.
Scholars weigh in on the law's significance
Zhang Lei, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, Yang Chao, an associate professor of law at the same university, Zhuang Deshui, deputy head of Peking University's Research Center of Public Policy, and Yang Weidong, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, have all commented on the significance of the planned legislation. Ghada Waly, former executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, also weighed in on related international cooperation frameworks.
