More Communist Party officials expected to flee abroad

Growing numbers of corrupt officials are likely to flee the country because of the crackdown on graft, according to a new government think tank report.

The number of Communist Party cadres escaping abroad may also rise because a lack of extradition pacts with some countries means fugitives may find bolt holes overseas, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said.

The academy's annual Blue Book of the Rule of Law said the anti-corruption watchdog should pay greater attention to officials moving their families or assets abroad and closely monitor people joining government service to nip graft in the bud.

"The phenomenon of the flight of officials is likely to escalate, particularly under the current anti-graft wave," said Lu Yanbin, a researcher at the academy's Institute of Law and the co-author of the yearbook. "Corrupt cadres are running out of places to live in this country."

The anti-corruption chief Wang Qishan promised in January that the Communist Party would increase efforts to punish officials who flee overseas. Some 1,631 fugitives - government officials or people working for state enterprises - were arrested in 2011, according to official figures.

Stolen assets of nearly eight billion yuan (HK$10 billion) were recovered from the suspects.

A previous report from the CASS said about 18,000 officials fled the country between 1995 and 2008, and smuggled out assets totaling 800 billion yuan.