Over 880 economic fugitives captured in crackdown on economic crimes

More than 880 economic fugitives who fled abroad have been apprehended from 2025 to the end of April 2026, the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday.

By the end of April this year, a special operation was launched to combat the transfer of illicit funds abroad using offshore companies and underground banks, resulting in over 1,600 cases being solved and coordinated crackdowns on more than 100 cross-regional underground banking criminal networks, it said.

The annual "Fox Hunt" operation, targeting economic crime suspects who have fled abroad, has apprehended over 880 fugitives, including 38 individuals on the Interpol Red Notice, it added.

To prevent and mitigate economic and financial risks, public security authorities across China have solved 128,000 economic crime cases since 2025, recovering 37.5 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) in economic losses, an official from the ministry reported.

Since 2025, public security organs have collaborated with administrative regulators to initiate a series of special operations targeting illegal financial "black and gray" market activities, illegal fundraising, tax-related crimes, irregularities in bidding and tendering, and internal corruption in private enterprises, according to Hua Liebing, head of the ministry's economic crime investigation bureau.

Police have also maintained pressure on crimes in the securities and futures sectors, helping to safeguard the order of the market economy, Hua added.