China Launches Fentanyl Crackdown In US Gesture

China announced on Monday it will launch a crackdown on all fentanyl-like substances from May 1, following US pleas for Beijing to control a drug fuelling a deadly opioid crisis.

China is suspected of being the main source of a powerful painkiller 50 times stronger than heroin that has caused record overdose deaths in the United States.

The issue has figured in trade talks between the United States and China, with Beijing promising to list any type of fentanyl when presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a tariff truce in December.

"The US is concerned about all variants (of fentanyl), and it has all been resolved," Liu Yuejin, deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission, said at a press conference.

Designating all fentanyl analogues as controlled substances from May 1 aims to prevent smugglers from skirting the law by changing formulas to make drugs similar to the painkiller.

Liu outlined further work China would undertake, including inspections of key bio-medical and chemical industrial parks, cleaning up drug-related information online and cutting off criminals' online communication channels.

Chinese authorities will also urge courier companies to implement real-name registration for parcels, stepping up customs checks for high-risk international packages and enhancing enforcement co-operation. Sellers often ship fentanyl via express package services.

American officials attending the press conference declined to comment.

Still Liu repeated China's denial of responsibility for the US's deadly opioid crisis, saying US allegations of large scale trafficking from China "lack evidence and are contrary to the facts".

"If the US really wants to resolve the fentanyl substance problem, they have more work to do domestically," he said. (AFP)