Belt and Road Initiative: legal mechanisms to recover stolen assets

Purpose This paper aims to determine the types of legal mechanisms that authorities can use to recover stolen assets for and from China. Design/methodology/approach Newspaper articles and books are examined as are relevant reports by various regulatory authorities and academic institutions. Findings The effectiveness of legal mechanisms in the recovery of stolen assets may be affected by issues such as the difficulties in tracing illicit funds, the ambiguous nature of “value” as well as the rise in technology. Research limitations/implications There are limited data available in relation to the prevalence of corrupt officials along the Belt and Road Initiative and the statistical success in the recovery of stolen assets. Any discussions within this paper are based on the impressionistic observations of this author, which may not reflect the true state of affairs of the Belt and Road Initiative. Practical implications Those who are interested in examining how authorities could recover stolen assets from and for China will have an interest in this topic. Originality/value The value of the paper is to demonstrate the difficulties in recovering stolen assets for and from China.