International cooperation is key to halting illicit outflows

Many people and organizations are giving China lessons about managing its financial system. However, gaps in the regulatory authority are not a product of intentional design, as conspiracy theorists suggest.

Instead, they arose because of the difficulty of keeping up with the rapid evolution of the economy and, on the corporate and individual level, increasing ways to chase higher returns from money, most importantly those extralegal and downright illegal ways, not from a lack of understanding or ability to monitor and regulate the new business activities.

The same might be said of the claim in a United States Department of State document alleging that "China leads the world in illicit capital flows." The State Department's 2015 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report quoted the non-profit, Washington, DC-based research and advisory organization Global Financial Integrity, that over $1 trillion in illicit money left China between 2003 and 2012.