China hunts law-breaking billionaire

Bosses on the lam

In recent years, any number of millionaire businessmen like Liao, accused of fraud or simply out of their financial depth, have fled the country. Life abroad with large with large sums of other people's money is far preferable to dealing with bankruptcy or feeling the wrath of the domestic law.

For instance, Wang Li, chairwoman of Junlihao Group in Qingdao, Shandong province, disappeared in April, owing at least 1.2 billion yuan. A month later, Huang Shuimu, head of Tiancheng Group in Fujian province, vanished following a crisis in a capital chain. By the end of June this year, the bosses of 123 peer-to-peer online lending firms had absconded abroad.

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Xia Xinping, a research fellow with Guangxi University of Science and Technology, believes economic fugitives abscond because of the low cost of running away.

"They accumulate huge debts in China, and evade them all by simply bailing out," Xia said.

Despite government action, only a small number of them have been repatriated so far, making flight the optimum solution for the disaffected super-rich.

Government on the hunt

The hunt for the fugitives is on. In July, the government campaign Fox Hunt 2014 began to track down suspects of economic crime who have fled the country.

"China has extradition treaties with more and more countries now, which certainly helps the campaign," said Wang Yukai, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance.

China has been a member of Interpol since 1984. Since 2008, more than 730 suspects of economic crimes have been repatriated to China from 54 countries and regions.

In a national teleconference in July, officials with the Ministry of Public Security called on police authorities to urge suspects to give themselves up and to offer rewards for information from the public that leads to arrests.

"Even if they are in the farthest corners of the world, we will find them, seize them and bring them to justice," said Liu.