The Chinese authorities say the reluctance of the four countries to hand over suspects has made them especially attractive havens for suspected economic fugitives.

“Many corrupt officials have chosen to flee to other countries because they can hide themselves behind the complex regulations on extradition and jurisdiction,” Li Zhimin, a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in New York, said in an email.

Image Wei Chen's 70-foot yacht, owned through a corporation.





Whether those on the list are truly China’s most wanted is a question of some debate. Chinese news reports say Beijing has handed Washington a far larger list of about 150 fugitives believed to be in the country.

Ding Xueliang, a Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said Beijing preferred not to publicly identify some suspects for fear that they or their families might retaliate by leaking party secrets. “The biggest targets are not on this list,” he said. “Some of these people could cause enormous political trouble for the party-state system by revealing what they know.” Indeed, some experts suspect the list is intended more as a warning to those whose identities remain secret than to those now widely known.

A review of the list found a range of figures said to be in the United States — from the relatively high-ranking Ms. Yang to more mundane characters like Qiu Gengmin, a former export agent accused of stealing money from a Norwegian shipping company — but few top officials.

In casting his net abroad, President Xi has made the party vulnerable to a force far beyond its control: the rule of law at the heart of Western legal systems. Even though there is no extradition treaty, American officials point out that Beijing has other options for repatriating suspects — as long as it can provide credible evidence of their crimes.