Nations working to return graft fugitives

BEIJING - The United States is cooperating with China to repatriate Chinese fugitives facing corruption charges, a senior US official said on Thursday, a move that could pave the way for the return of hundreds of former government officials wanted for graft.

US Department of Commerce General Counsel Cameron Kerry, in Beijing on a five-day visit focused on anti-corruption and commercial rule of law issues, said that "there's good cooperation" between Chinese and US prosecutors "in finding ways to repatriate corrupt officials or ill-gotten assets".

"Our prosecutors on both sides yesterday (on Wednesday) discussed a number of specific cases, and they look forward to increasing cooperation on those cases," Kerry told reporters at a briefing.