US-China fentanyl cooperation gathers momentum with senior meeting in Washington
- Anti-narcotic working group formed after Xi-Biden summit meets to clarify direction and strengthen coordination, readouts said
The delegations met in Washington, where they “exchanged their respective concerns, exchanged views and suggestions, and clarified the direction of cooperation”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The White House said on Thursday that discussions had focused on ways to strengthen coordination on law enforcement actions, disrupt the illicit financing of transnational criminal organisation networks, and accelerate the scheduling of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals.
The meeting also covered measures to address the illicit diversion of precursor chemicals, exchange information on emerging threats and advance progress in multilateral forums, the White House said.
Jennifer Daskal, deputy assistant to the president and deputy homeland security adviser, led the US delegation, while the head of the Chinese side was Wei Xiaojun, director general of the Ministry of Public Security’s Narcotics Control Bureau.
The US-China Counternarcotics Working Group mechanism was launched in January, following the 2023 summit in San Francisco between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden.