US and Chinese officials will this week hold talks aimed at stemming the flow of chemicals from China used to make fentanyl as they implement a deal struck by President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping in November.
White House deputy homeland security adviser Jen Daskal will lead a delegation to Beijing for talks on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two sides will discuss efforts to crack down on the export of ingredients for fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that has triggered a drug epidemic in the US.
US officials said China had already taken some positive actions since Biden and Xi agreed at a summit in San Francisco to resurrect a counter-narcotics working group that had been dormant as tensions between the countries rose to their highest level since they normalised diplomatic relations in 1979.