China and the United States are in negotiations for the return of five Chinese fugitives who are currently hiding in the US, state-run newspaper China Daily reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said an unidentified senior official of the ruling Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog agency revealed that the negotiations have reached an advanced stage.

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"We will offer relevant evidence to our U.S. counterparts in a timely manner and leave for the U.S. at a proper time to conduct a joint investigation with our counterparts," the official said. "We are in advanced negotiations with the U.S. to speed up the process for the fugitives' return."

China Daily revealed the names of two fugitives including Yang Xiuzhu, a former deputy mayor of Wenzhou city, and Xu Chaofan, a former regional director in a branch of the Bank of China in the southern province of Guangdong.    

The names of three other fugitives were not revealed.

According to China Daily, China and the United States are in "advanced negotiations" to sign an agreement on "sharing confiscated assets."

The newspaper made no mention of Ling Wancheng, the brother of a one-time aide to former President Hu Jintao. Ling is reported to be hiding in the United States.

US officials interrogated Ling earlier this year for allegedly being in possession of nuclear secrets and secretive information about Chinese leadership. His lawyer, however, told Reuters in February that Ling did not hand over Chinese state secrets to the US.

China has been upping the antic against corrupt officials hiding in foreign countries. Beijing has vowed to start an overseas search operation dubbed as 'Operation Fox Hunt' to nabbing such fugitives.

However, China has been left frustrated by many western countries such as the U.S., Australia, and Canada, which have emerged as popular hideouts for Chinese fugitives. They nations have been hesitant to sign a formal extradition treaty with China reportedly due to concerns about the mistreatment of convicts.

Tagschina, China and US, Corrupation in China, China Corrupation