BEIJING: The United States and China will meet Tuesday in Beijing to resume stalled dialogue on stemming the production of ingredients for the drug fentanyl.
The synthetic opioid has caused an epidemic of addiction in the US, with 100,000 overdose deaths a year, making it the leading cause of death of citizens aged 18 to 49, US authorities have said.
The US hopes to get China to cooperate on tackling firms that manufacture the precursor chemicals to make fentanyl and on cutting financing for the trade.
Tuesday’s talks will include high-level US officials from the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury Department, Washington said.
US, China to Restart Stalled Fentanyl Talks in Beijing: Report
The US says it will “provide a platform to facilitate the current coordination designed to tackle the illicit production, funding, and distribution of illicit drugs”. However, Beijing did not provide details about the officials, who will attend the talks.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed during a summit with Joe Biden in November to clamp down on the trade.
A US official said earlier, for years bilateral cooperation between Washington and Beijing on counternarcotics has been suspended which has also hindered their progress.
Since the summit Beijing has shut down one firm, blocked some global payments and resumed sharing information on shipments and trafficking, the official further said.
Earlier, top US and Chinese officials concluded two days of talks in Bangkok, aiming to enhance their ties and address shared matters of concerns. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held discussions for more than 12 hours, building on the agreement reached during the Biden-Xi meeting in November. They also acknowledged recent progress in restoring military-to-military communications.
