Guangzhou - A suspected murderer who had been on the run for eight years was returned here last week after he surrendered himself to police in the city of Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang province.

Liu Rongwan, born in 1965, turned himself in to police in Yiwu on April 12 and confessed to the crime when questioned by local police.

In addition to the barrage of publicity against fugitives from the police, Liu said he gave himself up because he could not endure life on the lamb.

"I lived in fear all these years," Liu told police.

Liu said he traveled throughout Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, and Zhejiang provinces and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region using a fake identity card.

A native of Gaozhou city in the western part of Guangdong province, Liu was the "seven of spades" in the deck of cards issued by Guangzhou police, which contains detailed information on 54 wanted criminals.

More than 70 percent of the fugitives on the cards are suspected of murder. The cards have been widely distributed in hopes of capturing the suspects.

Liu was the first of the 54 to turn himself in.

Police in Guangzhou's Luogang district set up a task force to investigate the case after they found a woman's body in a farm growing ornamental plants in Tianxin village on March 15, 2004.

Police immediately suspected Liu, who had once been the dead woman's boss.

The victim, surnamed Xu, worked in Liu's booth at the Dongping agricultural bazaar in Guangzhou's Baiyun district. Liu disappeared shortly after she was found.

Liu told police he and Xu became involved, but later had a falling out. After a fierce quarrel in Liu's van, Liu killed Xu on the night of March 15, eight years ago.

While searching for Liu, police also asked Liu's family to persuade him to surrender himself, according to a police officer from Guangzhou bureau of public security.

Police urged other fugitives to follow Liu's example and turn themselves in, the officer said.

Police have posted rewards for the capture of other criminals pictured on the playing cards, he added.

Playing cards featuring China's most wanted men are distributed to people in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo/CFP]