Chinese businesses and individuals have been warned by China to prevent the sale of products and precursor chemicals (substances used to produce illegal drugs) which could potentially lead to the production of opioids overseas, namely fentanyl. 

This comes following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in California on Wednesday for an agreement to join forces on narcotics control.

China’s Office of the National Narcotics Control Commission served the notice on Friday against the production and trafficking of narcotics and precursor chemicals, advising businesses to protect against the risk of "long-arm jurisdiction" and "entrapment" by foreign law enforcement agencies as a result. 

In turn, the narcotics control agency stated that those involved in the production, import, and export of controlled substances in the US should remain vigilant when receiving orders from countries such as the United States and Mexico.

The notice also includes a list of 51 types of precursor chemicals controlled in the US.

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Top priorities

The US National Security Council’s Senior Director for China and Taiwan affairs, Sarah Beran, relayed to journalists on Thursday that Xi agreed to relaunch bilateral cooperation on counter-narcotics during the conference with Biden.

"Additionally, and for longer-term coordination, the leaders agreed to establish a working group through which our law enforcement officials can expand counter-narcotics cooperation," Beran added.

Also on Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the US took the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science off its sanctions list, which had been there for alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang.

Miller called it an "appropriate step" to avert the trafficking of precursor chemicals.

"It became clear to us in conversations with [China] … that the continued listing of the IFS on the Commerce Entity List was a barrier to achieving cooperation on stopping the trafficking of precursor chemicals," Miller expressed, noting: "It was a top priority for the secretary and for the president to stop the trafficking of precursor chemicals out of China that can be used to produce fentanyl that comes into the United States."

Shifting blame away 

Several Chinese and Mexican individuals and entities have been blacklisted by the US for allegedly producing or selling equipment used to manufacture illegal drugs, as part of Biden's crackdown on the narcotics trade amid an overdose epidemic in the US. 

Allegedly, all of them are involved in the sale of pill presses or machines used to produce counterfeit pharmaceuticals, such as oxycodone. However, fake pills often contain fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of yearly overdoses. "Treasury’s sanctions target every stage of the deadly supply chain fueling the surge in fentanyl poisonings and deaths across the country," senior Treasury official Brian Nelson said in a statement.

A report published in July by the Global Times detailed how the US is failing to tackle its own opioid epidemic, blaming China for not doing enough to combat the spread of synthetic drugs.

Read more: Fentanyl-linked deaths in US unacceptably high despite recent drop: WH