A county-level land official in Hebei Province, who fled to Vietnam with his mistress last month to escape bribery investigation, has been caught and repatriated.

Song Jianguo, director of the Land and Resources Bureau of Mancheng County, and his mistress, her identity not revealed, were arrested in the Vietnamese city of Mong Cai on Tuesday after three weeks of a joint hunt by Chinese and Vietnamese police.

The pair was handed to police from Hebei Province yesterday at the border of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region that adjoins Vietnam, China News Service reported.

Song was suspected of taking 1.5 million yuan (US$240,600) in bribes between 2008 and 2011 and helping others to make illegal profits, police said.