Overview

• U.S. and Chinese officials have committed to working together to stem the flow of fentanyl into the United States, marking the first formal high-level talks the two global powers had held on the issue in years.
• The U.S. seeks more information sharing, law enforcement cooperation, and control of Chinese-made chemicals used in fentanyl production.
• China has issued a notice to domestic companies warning them against illicit sales of precursor chemicals and imposing new enforcement measures, but U.S. officials say there is much more that can be done.
• Fentanyl, an extremely lethal synthetic opioid, is at the center of a drug crisis that has devastated communities across the United States, with the majority of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids being fentanyl-related.
• The resumption of U.S.-China counternarcotics cooperation was one of the outcomes of the November meeting in California between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.