BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Friday adopted a law to combat cross-border corruption, providing strong legal support for investigating cross-border corruption cases.
The law, seen as part of the country's intensified anti-graft fight, aims to prevent and punish cross-border corruption, deepen international anti-corruption cooperation, safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and promote the building of a fair and equitable global anti-corruption governance system.
With 47 articles in six chapters, the law covers mechanisms and responsibilities, case handling and international cooperation, integrity and compliance, legal liability, among other areas.
Passed at a legislative session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the law takes effect upon promulgation.
The law is "a landmark achievement" in building China's foreign-related anti-corruption legal system, said Shang Haowen, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, noting that it elevates practices developed since 2012 in fighting cross-border corruption, pursuing fugitives and recovering assets, and international cooperation into national law.
While rules on the issue were previously scattered across the criminal law, the supervision law and the criminal procedure law, without a dedicated statute, the new law provides a systematic legal guarantee for effective governance, Shang said.
The law states that efforts to combat cross-border corruption should leave no area beyond oversight, leave no ground uncovered and show zero tolerance for corruption.
The law also calls for addressing both the symptoms and root causes of corruption through a systematic approach, ensuring that officials dare not, are unable to and have no desire to be corrupt, and actively participating in global anti-corruption governance.
China has stepped up international cooperation in combating corruption in recent years. Since the launch of Operation Sky Net in 2015, China has brought back 14,048 fugitives from more than 120 countries and regions and recovered 66.62 billion yuan (about 9.92 billion U.S. dollars) in illicit assets by the end of 2024, according to official data.
In 2025, China deepened international anti-corruption cooperation and investigated 505 cross-border corruption cases. A total of 963 fugitives were repatriated to the country in 2025.
In the latest case, authorities announced on Friday that a corrupt official from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had been repatriated about a year after fleeing abroad.
Li Biao, 63, was a former head of Guangxi's sericulture technology promotion station. He was accused of taking bribes before leaving China in November 2025.
"We will strengthen international cooperation against corruption and do more to catch fugitives, stop suspects from fleeing, and recover stolen assets. We will step up investigations into cross-border corruption and close off every escape route for corrupt individuals," said an official with the Fugitive Repatriation and Asset Recovery Office of China's Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group.
Adopted Friday, the new law also stipulates that efforts against cross-border corruption must be conducted in strict accordance with the Constitution and laws, follow statutory procedures, and respect and protect human rights.
The law says such efforts should provide equal protection for the legitimate rights and interests of all types of business entities, uphold order in cross-border business activities, and foster a world-class business environment aligned with market principles, the rule of law and international standards.
It requires Chinese companies operating across borders to set up integrity and compliance departments or appoint dedicated staff, based on their size, business scope and risk prevention and control needs.
China is a major trading partner for more than 160 countries and regions, and its total trade in goods has ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years. By the end of 2025, Chinese investors had established more than 50,000 overseas enterprises across 190 countries and regions. ■
