China Takes Lead at Global Fraud Summit

At first glance, the eight-page pamphlet circulated by the People’s Republic of China looked modest, although it was printed on glossy paper and was handed out alongside cuddly toy tigers. However, its contents represent a bombshell that was dropped nonchalantly on the Global Fraud Summit hosted by the United Nations and Interpol in Vienna this Monday. While most speeches in the main hall appealed for greater collaboration between national governments and law enforcement agencies to stem the rising tide of fraud, China’s Ministry of Public Security spoke to a relatively small audience in a side room about the launch of a new intergovernmental alliance to combat telecom and cyber fraud. Compared to the small signs of evolutionary progress offered elsewhere, China’s plan represents a potential step change in cross-border enforcement of laws relating to fraud committed over the phone and internet.

Per China’s announcement:

• The organization of the alliance would involve a plenary assembly representing member states, an executive committee elected by the assembly to implement the assembly’s resolutions, and a permanent secretariat based in China.
• All nations are invited to join.
• China is currently drafting an international convention that will establish the new alliance with the intention to negotiate its contents with supportive governments this month.
• The signing ceremony for the convention and the inaugural assembly would occur in September 2026.

Nine major functions for the new alliance have been outlined in a concept paper published by the Ministry of Public Security. They are:

1. Coordination and collaboration. Member states and transnational entities would build a global collaboration network.
2. Intelligence analysis. A new intelligence-sharing platform would integrate data about fraud and deliver findings.
3. Law enforcement collaboration. Major cases would be jointly investigated, with evidence and suspects exchanged between countries.
4. Disposal of assets. Countries would coordinate efforts to stop payments and recover the proceeds of crime.
5. Technical support. The alliance would write technical standards, develop systems to transmit data, and support the upgrade of anti-fraud technologies.
6. Build capacity. This would involve training and the conduct of joint exercises between nations.
7. Awareness. The alliance would launch cross-border anti-fraud awareness campaigns, issue global fraud alerts and publish reports on crime trends.
8. Consultation. Research on crime would be converted into best practice guidance and policy recommendations.
9. Strategic research. Studies would conclude with proposals for intergovernmental governance and technical countermeasure strategies for the combat of telecom and online fraud.

It is much easier to issue a concept paper than to realize cross-border collaboration in practice. China has thrown down the gauntlet to other countries that talk about the need for greater cooperation to fight international fraud syndicates but which can offer few examples of effective action. Will they accept China’s offer to provide a secretariat for the new alliance, at least until member states have formalized the details of how it will be funded? Zhao Xin, an official in the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Public Security, told the audience that 20 countries had expressed an interest in joining the alliance and that several had already signed a joint declaration. He declined to name specific countries, suggesting more announcements are imminent.

I asked Zhao about how he foresaw this intergovernmental body working with the private sector, and specifically how he viewed the relationship between this government-led alliance and the long-established preference of the US government to entrust most of the anti-crime governance of electronic networks to corporations and nonprofits. Zhao remained coy, choosing to reiterate aspects of the concept paper, while pointedly asking if I was a journalist. I explained that I do have a website, but that I also have 25 years’ experience of working in the comms sector. However you view the correct answer to his question, the new alliance will need to explain itself to the general public, not least because of the sensitivities surrounding the exploitation of personal data, which may begin with the legitimate investigation of crime but can easily slide into something else. Data protection is often cited as a barrier to fighting telco fraud, so this Chinese initiative will prompt some reassessment of current priorities among the Western-led coalition that has talked more about the technology for new information-sharing systems like international call traceback than about the rules which would govern its use in practice.