First meeting of US-China working group on fentanyl precursor chemicals to be held Tuesday

WASHINGTON: The first joint meeting of the US-China working group on fentanyl precursor chemicals will be held on Jan. 30 in Beijing, a senior US official said on Sunday. "This is a key part of the implementation of our bilateral cooperation on this effort," the US official told reporters. The official added the United States has information that China started action against Chinese precursor chemical companies around the time of the summit of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November.

Top Chinese and US officials held candid talks in Bangkok aimed at lowering tensions between the United States and China on Taiwan and other subjects, ahead of an expected springtime call between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Fentanyl is a leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States, and the two leaders discussed efforts to reduce its flow at a summit in California last year. The US is already seeing fewer seizures of illicit chemicals used to make fentanyl at US airports after China moved to shut down companies that make them. China has started some conversations with Mexico about the issue, the official said. "It is really important that this is a multilateral issue," the official said.