China takes action on key US fentanyl demands

BEIJING – China has taken a series of counter-narcotic actions in the past week, in a sign of cooperation with US demands for stronger action on the synthetic opioid fentanyl, a key irritant in the bilateral relationship. 

US President Donald Trump imposed

20 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports

in February over Beijing’s alleged failure to curb the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl, which has caused nearly 450,000 US overdose deaths. Those tariffs have remained in effect despite a fragile trade truce reached in Geneva in May.

Beijing has defended its drug control record and accused Washington of using fentanyl to “blackmail” China. Both sides were in a stalemate over the issue for months, despite China sending its vice-public security minister to the Geneva talks.

China has

baulked at some of Washington’s demands

, which include publicising the crackdown on precursors on the front page of the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, educating party members and tightening regulation of specific chemicals, among other actions.

On June 26, China’s Ministry of State Security accused a “certain country” of “deliberately launching unwarranted attacks on China over the fentanyl issue”, in a veiled swipe at the US.

But on June 20, Beijing added two precursors to a list of controlled chemicals, according to a government statement.

The chemicals – 4-piperidone and 1-boc-4-piperidone – were “considered fundamental to resolving the fentanyl issue”, raising hopes that the 20 per cent tariffs could be eventually lifted, according to a source familiar with US government thinking.

The move came after US Ambassador to China David Perdue had a rare meeting with China’s Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong on June 19 in Beijing, during which Mr Wang expressed willingness to work with Washington on drug control, according to a Chinese statement.

China’s Foreign Ministry said the action on precursors was an “independent measure” taken by Beijing in line with the UN Drug Convention and “demonstrates China’s attitude of actively participating in global drug governance”.

Working-level conversations on fentanyl remain ongoing, and Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the topic in a June 5 phone call.

Chinese immigration officials have seized 2.42 tonnes of drugs and arrested 262 suspects for drug smuggling so far in 2025, state media reported on June 26, as Beijing vowed to crack down on drug trafficking and “intensify anti-drug propaganda” in border areas and ports.

In addition, Chinese officials announced on June 25 that they had prosecuted more than 1,300 people and arrested over 700 more nationwide for drug-related money laundering offences between January and May 2025, a 2.1 per cent year-on-year increase.

Beijing will “cut off the criminal interest chain and destroy the economic foundation of drug crimes”, Mr Miao Shengming, a senior official at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said during a press conference.

On June 23, a court in the south-eastern province of Fujian handed a suspended death sentence to former drug control official Liu Yuejin for bribery, state media reported.

Liu, a former director of the Ministry of Public Security’s narcotics control bureau, was convicted of illegally receiving bribes worth over 121 million yuan (S$21.5 million) between 1992 and 2020.

The US Embassy in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment.

The Chinese government statements did not mention the US.

Chinese scholars acknowledge that fentanyl’s central position in the US-China trade war comes with a lot of political baggage for Beijing.

“The US views the fentanyl issue as a sign of poor governance on China’s part and has exerted pressure on China as a result, politicising the issue of drug control,” said Professor Liu Weidong, a US-China expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“This context is certain to influence China’s approach to addressing the fentanyl issue.” REUTERS