BEIJING (Nov 8): Asia-Pacific ministers pledged to deny safe haven to anyone engaged in corruption, bolstering Chinese efforts to chase down those who have fled the country with ill-gotten gains.

The ministers encouraged member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to sign bilateral extradition treaties and legal-assistance agreements, and speed up cooperation in prosecuting graft-related crimes.

“With fresh vigour and renewed momentum, we will take concrete actions and pursue additional effective measures as necessary to safeguard our common security,” the ministers said in an annex to the 103-point statement from a two-day meeting that ended today in Beijing.

Leaders from the 21-member APEC grouping will meet Nov 11.

The APEC pledge may give new impetus to a campaign China began in July, dubbed Operation Fox Hunt 2014, to round up economic fugitives and retrieve billions of dollars spirited overseas.

That search dovetails with a broader campaign by the ruling Communist Party against corruption, which President Xi Jinping has become so bad that it threatens the party’s grip on power.

Fellow APEC member Australia is taking part in operations with China to seize illegal assets, while China has sent investigators to Thailand, the Philippines and other nations.

The call for more bilateral extradition treaties highlights the fact that China doesn’t have agreements with the countries it says are the top two destinations for economic fugitives -- the US and Canada.

“Corruption not only creates an unfair playing field, it not only distorts economic relationships, but corruption steals from the people of every country the belief that the system works for everybody,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said at a briefing in Beijing after the deal was announced.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported last month that the country had captured 180 economic fugitives from 40 countries and recovered billions of dollars in assets.