Critics wary as China promises tighter fentanyl controls

Officials in China say new rules will go into effect Sept. 1, tightening controls on so-called “precursor” chemicals used to make street fentanyl. The powerful opioid kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. each year.

Experts say chemical plants in China have become major suppliers of drugs to Mexican drug cartels and other criminal gangs producing synthetic drugs including fentanyl and methamphetamine.

The Biden administration has hailed China’s new rules — increasing government oversight of seven chemicals, including three compounds used to make illicit fentanyl — as a “valuable step forward” in the fight to reduce overdose deaths in the U.S.

“We will continue to make progress in combating narcotics and the flow of illicit synthetic drugs into the United States,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday at a news conference in Beijing.

In a statement earlier this month, the White House described the latest Chinese regulations as part of a trend toward better cooperation on drugs that began last November when President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“This is the third significant (regulatory) action taken by the People’s Republic of China since President Biden met with President Xi and resumed bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said.

Ahead of the resumption of counter-narcotics talks in 2023, China has suspended all drug cooperation with the U.S. due to diplomatic tensions over Taiwan and human rights issues.

White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta also praised China’s decision to re-engage in the drug trade, noting in an Aug. 6 statement that “dozens of deadly substances have already been (regulated) by the PRC.”

But drug policy experts NPR spoke with expressed skepticism about China’s new fentanyl laws, questioning whether they would be backed by effective enforcement.

More stringent regulations on paper. What about enforcement?

John Coyne, an expert on criminal drug markets at the Australia Strategic Policy Institute, published an essay last week criticising China’s new fentanyl precursor rules, describing them as “little more than a public relations stunt”.

According to Coyne, A wide range of chemicals that can be used in illicit drug production remain unregulated in China. He also said there is evidence that Chinese officials are complicit in the fentanyl trade.

“There are ties between some of these (chemical) companies and Chinese government officials, and they actually advertise those ties on the Internet,” Coyne told NPR. He’s not alone in expressing concerns.

Last April, investigators from a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee released evidence that Chinese government agencies were in fact subsidizing the export of fentanyl precursors, accusations that Chinese officials denied.

In an interview with NPR this week, a spokesman for the majority Republican Party that has been leading the fentanyl investigation said it’s troubling that China is still subsidizing chemical companies that export chemicals containing fentanyl.

They also said their investigators found no new evidence that China plans to go after companies that feed the criminal fentanyl supply chain. Chinese officials did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Speaking on background because of the sensitivity of negotiations with China, a senior Biden administration official told NPR that the new fentanyl chemical rule is significant because it “gives us a hook to force them to do more.”

“Of course, we think the PRC can do a lot more,” the official said. “No single step will solve this problem, it’s a huge problem.”

There are several other portraits in the photo of Makayla Cox, who died at age 16 of a fentanyl overdose. "Faces of fentanyl" A wall of photos of Americans who have died from fentanyl overdoses is displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, July 13, 2022. - The opioid crisis in America has reached catastrophic proportions, with more than 80,000 people dying from opioid overdoses in 2023. — A photo of Makayla Cox, who died of a fentanyl overdose at age 16, is displayed among other portraits on the “Faces of Fentanyl” wall, which features photos of Americans who have died of fentanyl overdoses. The wall is located at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, July 13, 2022. – The opioid crisis in America has reached catastrophic proportions. In 2023, more than 80,000 people died from opioid overdoses.

Putting the toothpaste back into the tube

Even if Chinese officials move to introduce regulations to curb fentanyl production, many experts say it may be impossible to stop supplies of the precursor chemical.

“It’s worth a try, (but) I think the most likely outcome is that there will be no lasting disruption to the ability to produce fentanyl,” said Jonathan Caulkins, an expert on the fentanyl crisis at Carnegie Mellon University.

According to Caulkins, fentanyl precursors are relatively easy to make and widely available. He said controlling every compound that can make a version of fentanyl is like “putting toothpaste back in the tube.”

Greg Midgette, an expert on criminal drug markets at the University of Maryland, agrees. He said identifying and containing the sources of fentanyl chemicals would be a daunting challenge even for China’s powerful bureaucracy.

“These things are very difficult to track,” he said. “We would probably see adoption either in China or some other state where the precursors are not as well regulated.”

Still, experts told NPR it makes sense for the United States to keep up pressure on criminal drug cartels, their supply chains and the countries like China and Mexico where they operate. Such measures could help reduce corruption and criminal activity and bring a measure of justice, they said.

Meanwhile, administration officials said it was difficult to convince China to resume cooperation on drugs. and persuading Beijing to tighten regulations is part of a broader campaign against fentanyl.

Other elements of the effort include targeting and arresting top Mexican drug cartel leaders. Some public health experts also believe that expanding health and addiction programs ultimately slowed the number of fentanyl-related deaths.