"We've made breakthroughs in international police cooperation. Now we communicate smoothly and efficiently with police in southeastern Asian countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam," said Huang Peifu, an international fugitive specialist with Guangdong's provincial public security department.
Huang said many countries are motivated by the most wanted list. "They recognize that the fugitives are on Interpol's red notice for international arrest. No country would be happy to be seen as a haven for international fugitives," he said.
He said Guangdong alone is targeting about 300 fugitives overseas. Before the nationwide campaign was launched, local police only pursued four or five cases a year.
Chinese police abide by the principles of respecting laws and personal freedom, which sets a solid foundation for developing cooperation with overseas police, said Dai Peng, dean of the investigation academy of the People's Public Security University of China.
In order to clear institutional obstacles, the Chinese government has signed more than 100 different judicial assistance treaties with 68 countries and regions.
During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing in November 2014, the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption was adopted, with APEC members pledging to eliminate corruption through extradition and judicial assistance and more flexible legal measures to recover the proceeds of crime.
China's efforts to reduce the number of crimes punishable by death have paved way for extradition, given the globally-adopted policy that no person subject to the death penalty should be extradited, according to Huang Feng, a professor of international criminal law with the Beijing Normal University.
The country's top legislature in late August adopted amendments to the Criminal Law, removing the death penalty for nine crimes. In 2011, the country dropped the death penalty for 13 crimes.
