The initiative was launched in 2015 to investigate offshore companies and underground banks that transfer money abroad.
[6] According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China has captured over 1,200 fugitives, including 140 Party members and government officials, and recovered CN¥ 2.91 billion (US$400 million) of embezzled funds in 2023.
[7] Human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders highlighted methods used in Operation Sky Net, including the detention of fugitives' relatives in mainland China, dispatching agents overseas to illegally intimidate the person in their overseas location, or kidnap them and return them to China.
[10][11][12] In 2016, Operation Sky Net led to the escortion of Yang Xiuzhu, one of China's most-wanted fugitives according to a post of a list of 100 suspects "wanted for economic crimes and said to be living abroad" published in April 2015.
[13] She was escorted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to Beijing, where she was then turned over to Chinese authorities.