China says United States domestic opioid market the crux of crisis

Beijing has taken steps to crack down on the production and export of synthetic drugs
Reuters (UK)
Monday, June 25, 2018

China’s drug control agency said the United States should do more to cut its demand for opioids to tackle the use of synthetic drug fentanyl, but it vowed to step up cooperation after Chinese production of the substance had been blamed for fuelling the U.S. opioid crisis. U.S. President Donald Trump said in November on a state visit to Beijing that China and the United States would do more to stem what he called a “flood of cheap and deadly” fentanyl “manufactured in China” from entering the United States. While China accepts that some new psychoactive substances, including fentanyl, manufactured in China are sold in the United States, the substances are not yet readily abused and trafficked in China itself. (See also: China lectures the Unites States on opioid crisis)