On Thursday, Beijing slammed the US for imposing restrictions on Chinese painkiller manufacturers, as Washington claimed it aims to combat an addiction pandemic that took the lives of a record 100,000 Americans last year.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that makes it simpler for the US to target 'international drug traffickers.'

The measures target a Chinese National accused of drug trafficking and four Chinese companies accused of participating in the illicit production of fentanyl for the US market.

US President's office Issued a document

A  document issued by the US President's office stated that the policy of the US in that regard is to "employ authorized intelligence and operational capabilities in an integrated manner to target, disrupt, and degrade transnational criminal organizations that pose the greatest threat to national security."

One measure is to create a new body, the US Council on Transnational Organized Crime, which includes representatives from various departments. 

The Treasury Department levied sanctions on four Chinese chemical companies and one individual, Chuen Fat Yip, who the Treasury Department described as "one of the greatest, if not the largest, producer of anabolic steroids in the world" under Biden's new executive order.

About Fentanyl 

Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid drug that is used in medical settings and can be converted into a type of drug.

Fentanyl is not necessarily illegal, so it can be used as a painkiller for cancer patients who are in severe pain. But Chinese laboratories are suspected of supplying drug dealers, especially in Mexico, with perverted substances to make drugs, and forging customs documents. 

Between April 2020 and the same month of 2021, the United States counted 100,306 overdose deaths, a 28.5% increase compared to the same period the previous year (78,056 deaths), i.e. one death every five minutes.

This is the first time that the symbolic threshold of 100,000 deaths has been crossed.

Blinken and Wang Wenbin

State Secretary Antony Blinken said in a statement that the move "will help disrupt the global supply chain and the financial networks that enable synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals to reach the United States."

The People's Republic of China has stated that it resolutely opposes the action.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said that "these kinds of erroneous activities, in which one side is unwell but pushes the other to take medicine, are not helpful."

He added that China urges the US to respect the facts and to independently find the reasons for the misuse of opioids on its soil, rather than criminalizing other countries.

In 2019, China made its laws regarding drug usage more strict, including all fentanyl on the list of controlled substances.