China's top legislature on Saturday ratified an unprecedented extradition treaty with Spain in which China agrees not to execute repatriated criminals.

Legal experts said that the landmark document indicates that China has committed itself to legally respecting the principle of many Western countries that do not have the death penalty.

The treaty also marks "China's major shift in its tactics to repatriate corrupt fugitive officials to face justice under its own legal jurisdiction," said Dr. Xu Hong, counselor with the Department of Treaty and Law under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with Xinhua.

"The treaty will help China weave a global extradition net to bring back corrupt officials who have fled abroad to seek asylum in developed countries in Europe and North America," said Xu, who was also head of the Chinese delegation in China-Spain extradition talks.

Wu Dawei, China's vice foreign minister, reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress earlier this week that "Spain is an influential country in the EU (European Union), and the treaty will effectively deliver a warning to corrupt officials who are at large on foreign lands."

Signing the extradition treaty with Spain will pave the way for more such judicial cooperation with other Western countries, he said.

The top legislature on Saturday also ratified an extradition treaty with Brazil and two treaties on criminal matters with Spain and France.

Crimes such as bribery, embezzlement have increased among government officials in China, and a large number of them have fled the country with huge sums of money

Since 1993, more than 230 Chinese criminal suspects had been repatriated from more than 30 countries and regions, with assistance of the Interpol, the world police body. But observers said they represent just a fraction of the suspects who have sought refuge overseas.

According to a 2004 report released by the research institute attached to the Ministry of Commerce, about 4,000 Chinese officials suspected of embezzling 50 billion U.S. dollars have fled overseas since China launched economic reforms in 1978.

Police statistics show that in 2004 there were 500 suspects wanted for economic crimes on the run in foreign countries. They're accused of embezzling more than 70 billion yuan (875 million U.S. dollars).

Since 1993, China has signed extradition treaties with more than 20 countries. Most are developing countries including Thailand, Laos, Belarus and South Africa. "Negotiations with developed countries were moving slowly," said Xu.

Observers said China's use of the death penalty, especially for severe economic crimes, makes it difficult to cooperate on extradition with countries in the EU and North America who do not impose the death penalty for economic crimes.

These countries have refused to sign extradition treaties until China accepts their policy, Xu said.

"The constitution of Spain does not allow for a death penalty," said Gregorio Laso, counselor of the Information and Press in the Spanish Embassy in China. In an interview with Xinhua, Laso said being able to overcome the differences in the legal systems to develop the treaty demonstrates the trust and respect between the two sides.

"The treaty has a very positive impact on bilateral relations, pushing judicial co-operation to a new stage," Laso said, adding that Spain's Ministry of Interior set up an office in Beijing this month to co-operate on judicial issues including extraditions.

According to Xu, Spain proposed the two countries negotiate the extradition treaty in September 2004. The two sides had agreed to all treaty articles agreed in October 2005, and signed the document in Madrid on November 14, 2005, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Spain. With Saturday's ratification by the NPC the treaty has come into effect.

The treaty has stirred debate among Chinese legal experts and lawmakers, with some fearing that it might weaken China's anti-graft efforts by exempting runaway criminals from a death sentence.

"The issue is not whether we should sentence them to death, it's more important that we bring them back to face justice in our courts," said Xu, adding it is no use talking about capital punishment if they can't be brought back.

An exemption to execution has already been made in the case of an official repatriated from the United States. Earlier this month, a court in the southern province of Guangdong sentenced Yu Zhendong, a former bank official repatriated from the United States, to 12 years in prison for embezzlement.

Yu, former head of a Bank of China branch in the city of Kaiping was found guilty for the bank's losses of 82.5 million U.S. dollar. Yu was returned to China in 2004 after China agreed it would not sentence him to death.

Other fugitives include Lai Changxing, the leading suspect in China's most notorious smuggling case involving 10 billion U.S. dollars. For years Lai has been trying to gain refuge status in Canada.

The Chinese police are also negotiating with their Dutch counterparts for the return of Yang Xiuzhu, a former official in East China's booming coastal province of Zhejiang who has been charged with taking huge bribes.

Source: Xinhua