At a press conference on December 27, 2008, Vice Minister of Supervision Yao Zengke announced a series of new measures to stem the tide of officials fleeing overseas. He said, "We will strengthen our administration of passports of government officials and intensify the inspection of officials' applications to go abroad."

Last October, Xin Weiming, deputy head of Luwan District of Shanghai, and Yang Xianghong, Party Secretary of Lucheng District of Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, both failed to return from France after business trips. This incident fueled public concern in the wake of a succession of corrupt officials overstaying their official business tours and living luxuriously on illegal gains.

According to Yao, government departments have conducted a study to prevent any new case in the future.

Yao said that for punishment, Yang, who has yet to return, has been removed from his position and Party membership and Xin, who was "persuaded into" returning, has offered to quit his government position.

Recent years have witnessed a tide of high officials fleeing with cash. They live in American cities like San Francisco and New York and have purchased luxurious properties.

Explaining a craze among officials for overseas study tours, Professor Qi Shanhong of Nankai University in Tianjin said, for a long time within the government, high-ranking officials have been able to embark on overseas tours without specific business demands through simple procedures.

"It is an abuse of power to go sightseeing overseas in the name of study tours," said Zeng Guangyu, a former member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Beijing Municipal Committee.

"It is high time we looked at the corruption involved in these overseas tours," said Li Chengyan, a professor of Peking University. Li said that the expensive overseas trips not only wasted taxpayers' money, but also provide an ideal path for corrupt officials to flee the country.

Government departments at central and local levels issued regulations banning officials from wasting money on overseas tours as early as 1993, but their rules have proved ineffective.