Apec agrees anti-corruption network

Countries of Asia and the Pacific region have agreed to set up a network to share information on corruption. Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group on Saturday said in a statement that the purpose of the agreement, proposed by China, was to deny safe haven to anyone engaged in corruption. It comes amid efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to clamp down on corrupt officials, including those who try to escape abroad. Earlier in the day, Xi Jinping had a meeting with Bangladfesh President Abdul Hamid at the Great Hall of the Peoples in Beijing. The Apec leaders are expected to back the deal at a summit in the Chinese capital next week. US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the move as a major step forward. ‘Corruption not only creates an unfair playing field, it not only distorts economic relationships, but corruption also steals from the people of every country the belief that the system can work for everybody,’ he told journalists. The Apec members also said in the statement that it had set up the Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACT-NET). It will also ‘establish measures and systems to protect whistleblowers’. Officials say that the proposal was initiated by China and backed by the US, according to a news agency.