China Warns Against Selling Narcotics Chemicals

China's narcotics control agency has warned against the manufacture and sale of substances that can be used to make illegal drugs, a day after President Xi Jinping said China would stem the export of items used to make the opioid fentanyl.

In a circular issued on Thursday, the office of the China National Narcotics Control Commission also cautioned against the risk of running into the "long-arm jurisdiction" of foreign law enforcement agencies.

The United States has long sought China's cooperation to stop an illicit flow of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is increasingly mixed with other drugs, often with lethal results.

At their summit on Wednesday in San Francisco, Xi and President Joe Biden agreed China would stem the export of items related to the production of fentanyl.

Under the agreement, China will go directly after specific chemical companies that make fentanyl precursors, a senior U.S. official said.

In its circular, the narcotics agency warned that any person, or company, including postal and logistics firms, that is aware of the sale, transport or export of illegal drugs or precursor chemicals may face criminal charges or fines.

U.S. officials say small chemical businesses in China make precursor chemicals that are shipped to Mexico to produce illicit fentanyl. China says addiction and demand for the drug are U.S. domestic problems.