China and US to agree crackdown on fentanyl trade

https://ft.com/content/1d95f71b--458b-a762-5b1c43ca4a79

China has agreed to crack down on companies exporting chemicals used to make fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, in a deal that will be sealed when Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meet this week, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

It would mark a significant achievement for the Biden administration, which has sought to tackle the proliferation of fentanyl, a drug that is 50 times more potent than heroin and has been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the US.

The US Treasury last month imposed sanctions on 25 Chinese individuals and entities in an effort to disrupt what it alleged was a network involved in making and distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine and ingredients to make ecstasy.