Over 1,000 fugitives extradited to China in eight months

Anti-corruption watchdog said on Friday that it has made great progress in the eight-month-long "Skynet" campaign by successfully bringing back 1,023 fugitives to the country by the end of 2015.

Of the fugitives extradited to China, 18 were on the most-wanted list, said Wu Yuliang, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, the country's top discipline watchdog.

"It's the first time that the number of the fugitives brought back to the country is more than the figure of new fugitives," Wu said at a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office.

"The fear of corruption has set in, and efforts are underway to end corruption completely," he added.

The countries that have extradited fugitives include the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Wu also said China investigated 330,000 cases of graft or frugality violation in 2015, and punished 336,000 officials, a record high annual number in the past 20 years.

Among the punished, more than 14,000 people, including 42 senior-level officials, suspected of violating laws were handed over to judicial authorities, he said.

"Both the numbers of people being punished last year, and the investigated number of centrally administered officials, are the highest since China's reform and opening-up (in the late 1970s)", Wu said.