'Sky Net 2026' launched to intensify global anti-corruption efforts

China vowed on Thursday to continue deepening its international anti-graft cooperation and maintain high pressure on corruption fugitives abroad. A campaign codenamed "Sky Net 2026" was launched to hunt down fugitives, recover illegal proceeds, and combat cross-border corruption, according to a meeting of the office for fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group.

Under the campaign, the National Commission of Supervision will lead a special operation to recover illicit assets and losses in overseas duty-related crime cases. The Ministry of Public Security will carry out its annual "Fox Hunt" operation targeting economic crime suspects who have fled abroad.

The People's Bank of China, together with the Ministry of Public Security, will launch a special campaign to prevent and crack down on the transfer of illicit funds abroad through offshore companies and underground banks.

The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, together with the Ministry of Public Security and the National Immigration Administration, will strengthen oversight of officials whose spouse has already moved abroad or who have no spouse and whose children have all moved abroad, and address violations involving public employees' private trips abroad.

The meeting called on relevant authorities to strengthen both punishment and prevention, maintain high pressure against corruption, and intensify investigations into cross-border corruption cases. It also urged special campaigns to tackle prominent problems, the drafting of an anti-cross-border corruption law, deeper law enforcement and judicial cooperation, and stronger efforts to pursue the 100 fugitives on Interpol's red notice list as well as newly fled suspects in recent years.

Authorities were also told to step up efforts to recover stolen assets and reduce losses.

According to the office, in 2025, the authorities successfully apprehended fugitives on the red notice list in Asia, advanced cross-border corruption governance, and deepened clean governance cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.