BEIJING - CHINA will track down foreign investors who flee the country leaving debts and other liabilities behind, and may even ask for their extradition, the government said.

People who leave without paying their dues have caused 'heavy economic losses to Chinese stakeholders' and had a 'negative impact on social stability', the government said in a statement over the weekend.

Beijing will work through diplomatic channels to seek the return to China those who have left to escape huge taxes, said the statement, posted on the central government's website.

The statement was vague about who might be targeted, but it also seemed to cover businesspeople who leave failed companies.

Beijing is increasingly concerned about business close downs, as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers become jobless after factories in the coastal areas go bankrupt with exports falling amid the world economic crisis.