Biden to Press China on Fentanyl Production

The U.S. seeks cooperation to curb China's role in the American opioid crisis, but China denies responsibility and blames U.S. drug culture.

President Biden is expected to press Chinese leader Xi Jinping to crack down on Chinese firms that produce fentanyl, a potent drug that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
China's vast chemical industry is accused of playing a key role in the American fentanyl crisis by supplying the bulk of materials used in illegal drug labs, including in Mexico, which is now the largest exporter of fentanyl to the United States.
The Chinese government denies that its country plays such a pivotal role and instead blames the United States for harboring a culture of drug use.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids may have resulted in more than 77,000 overdose deaths in the United States between May 2022 and April 2023.
Despite the scale of the problem, there is hope that greater coordination between the United States and China could improve the situation.