Washington is congratulating Beijing on taking important steps to combat the opioid crisis. On August 29, 2018, China announced it was putting 32 substances under national control.  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the list includes two internationally controlled fentanyl analogs.

In a statement, the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “This is an important step in the global fight against opioids and, by providing Chinese law enforcement additional tools, it affords our federal law enforcement authorities a greater opportunity to continue working on important joint investigations.  I thank the Government of China for this action and I look forward to further cooperation.”

Cooperation in combating opioid abuse has been a bright spot in the relationship between Washington and Beijing.

Chinese officials have cautioned that the U.S. must do more to cap the demand for highly addictive opioids.

According to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, of the 72,000 deaths estimated in 2017 due to opioid overdose, the sharpest increase happened in deaths  linked to fentanyl and its analogs.