Chinese corruption suspect returned from EU state for first time

China has extradited a corruption suspect from a European Union member state for the first time, the country’s top graft buster said on Friday after Bulgaria returned a former official accused of taking bribes.

A key plank of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign has been the drive to repatriate overseas fugitives suspected of corruption and economic crimes through widely publicised operations dubbed “Fox Hunt” and “Sky Net”.

But China has had limited success in securing cooperation from Western countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia, where many of its most-wanted suspects live, largely because of what those governments see as a lack of transparency and due process in China’s judicial system.

In a brief statement, China’s National Supervision Commission said that with Bulgaria’s help, Yao Jinqi had been extradited back to China.

“This is the first time we have successfully extradited a bureaucrat suspected of work-related crimes from an EU member state,” it said.