China and the United States, as co-sponsors of the APEC Anti-corruption Workshop which was held on April 24-25, 2006, have released 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 U.S. 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.

Source: Xinhua