The Communist Party of China wants to purge corrupt officials. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Chinese government has recovered over $1.1 billion worth of assets from the country's most corrupt officials. There were 2,210 individuals deported from 70 countries and the 35 of the top 100 were arrested.
The data was released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the government's anti-corruption agency.
The commission reported that half of the 35 people fled to Western countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Those countries do not have an extradition treaty with China.
There were seven that were detained in Cambodia, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, There were six in Africa and three in China. These officials were involved in embezzlement, bribery, and fraud, and half have been accused of corruption, according to the CCDI.
One of these arrested officials is Fu Yaobo from the labor and social security department of Northeast China's Liaoning Province. He was able to embezzle public funds with the help of Zhang Qingzhao, a cashier.
They fled to the Caribbean island state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which eventually deported them.
The campaign against fraud, called Sky Net, released its most wanted list in 2015. The Interpol's National Central Bureau in China also released a list of 100 people wanted worldwide.
The Communist Party of China released a communique during a recent plenum that stated, "To maintain Party leadership [over the country] is first and foremost to maintain the Party Central Committee's centralized, unified leadership."
This means that the government is determined to maintain control and through the anti-corruption campaign, President Xi Jinping strengthens his hold.
The Party also aims to improve governance that "has both centralization and democracy, discipline and freedom, unified willpower and individual thought."
