The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies have decided to set up a cross-border law enforcement network to strengthen transnational anti-corruption cooperation in the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday.

Leaders and representatives of the 21 APEC economies have reached consensus in hunting down fugitives at large, recovering their ill-gotten assets and expanding law enforcement cooperation, Xi told a press conference at the end of a two-day APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Earlier reports said the network would consist of anti-corruption and law enforcement personnel from the APEC member economies.

A regular contact mechanism and a law enforcement cooperation mechanism will be built under the network to facilitate information sharing and build up trust, and to investigate corruption, bribery, money laundering and illegal trade crimes. It will also gather and share experiences in anti-graft areas through seminars and exchanges.

China is in the middle of a popular anti-corruption campaign targeting both high-ranking "tigers" and lowly "flies."

The country is also seeking to widen the campaign to those who have fled abroad in what it called the Fox Hunt 2014 operation, to "block the last route of retreat" for corrupt officials.