China and the United States, as co-sponsors of the APEC Anti-corruption
Workshop which was held on April 24-25, 2006, have released in
Beijing Thursday the contents of a joint statement on a series of
anti-corruption issues discussed in the workshop.
According to the Official Statement of the Shanghai APEC Anti-corruption
Workshop, the workshop is an important follow-up to the commitment expressed by
Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George W. Bush to increase
cooperation in the fight against corruption, along with the political will
manifested by APEC leaders to strengthen cooperation among APEC economies on
these important governance and integrity issues.
A total of 114 anti-corruption officials and experts from the APEC economies,
relevant international organizations and partners attended the workshop.
Focusing on the theme of "Denial of Safe Haven: Asset Recovery and
Extradition," the participants had fruitful in-depth exchanges and discussions
to help fulfill the aspirations of APEC leaders to take strong enforcement
actions to deny safe haven to corrupt individuals and prevent them from enjoying
the proceeds of their illicit activities, said the statement.
The participants believe, the statement said, the challenges related to
corrupt officials seeking safe haven in other jurisdictions along with their
illicitly-acquired assets remain important priorities within APEC and
strengthening international anti-corruption cooperation is critical to
effectively deny safe haven, recover assets and extradite alleged criminals.
"Both China and the United States are ready to further anti-corruption
collaboration within the APEC framework by fighting and prosecuting corruption,
creating an honest and clean environment and promoting enhanced economic and
social development in the Asia Pacific region," said the statement.
Prosecuting corruption and transnational bribery and financial crimes,
deterring and preventing corruption help create a strong international
governance environment to promote greater stability, security, prosperity and
economic development, the participants held.
Participants exchanged information on anti-bribery measures, both on the
international level and within APEC economies, and agreed to work jointly to
combat bribery in international business transactions. Participants also
underscored the important links between corruption and anti-money laundering,
said the statement.
Along with the adverse impact to the development of economic growth,
corruption provides an environment for organized transnational crime and
terrorism to flourish as well as weakening critical enforcement systems and key
integrity institutions, said the statement.
According to the participants, anti-corruption cooperation under the APEC
framework by strengthening exchanges and learning from each other on the basis
of equality and mutual benefit, respecting differences and emphasizing results
should be pursued.