Three of China's most wanted graft fugitives have been arrested overseas and deported to China recently, China's top anti-graft authority announced on Tuesday night.

Yang Yurong and Zang Chunwei are major suspects of a duty crime in China, involving a significant amount of money.

Another fugitive, Zhang Hengxian, was a former Party branch secretary of a local community in Maoming City, south China's Guangdong Province. He is suspected of having used his position to embezzle funds from villagers and state-owned enterprises over 10 million yuan. He fled China in September 2015.

In a statement, the Chinese authorities said the three were arrested by foreign law enforcement at the request of China, but did not reveal where they were arrested.

"Overcoming the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our agency escorted the three people back to China," it said, adding that fugitive repatriation and asset recovery is a journey to which there is no end.