Since 1998, 413 criminal suspects hailing from over 20 countries and regions have been repatriated, a senior official with the Ministry of Public Security revealed yesterday.

Deputy Public Security Minister Meng Hongwei spoke on Tuesday at a national conference, saying that the repatriations "had contributed to social stability and fight against corruption".

Ministry statistics also indicated that Chinese police investigations had led to the finding of over 300 wanted officials having fled abroad with illegal earnings since 1998, with 37 being arrested and returned to China in 2006 alone.

Chinese police have ramped up efforts to track fugitives and have bolstered intelligence gathering through international cooperation, concluding 72 judicial cooperation agreements with 48 countries and extradition treaties with 24 countries.

Currently, China is seeking the repatriation of alleged smuggling kingpin Lai Changxing from Canada.

Lai stands accused of leading the country's largest smuggling ring. He fled to Canada in 1999 and remains there but faces charges of smuggling, bribery and tax evasion in China.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2007)