Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are set to announce an agreement for China to crack down on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, the primary culprit in a synthetic drug epidemic blamed as the leading killer of Americans between 18 and 49.
Bloomberg reported that under the deal – which the US and Chinese presidents are still finalizing – China would go after chemical companies to halt the flow of fentanyl and the source material used to make it. In return, Biden’s White House would lift restrictions on China’s forensic police institute.
Last year the US reported 110,000 overdose deaths from synthetic drugs, with more than two-thirds linked to fentanyl, a potent opioid.
Authorities say fentanyl can be created and distributed more easily than plant-based illicit drugs, which required large-scale enterprises to cultivate and market.
The fentanyl announcement is scheduled for Wednesday when the two leaders are set to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco.
The meeting between Xi and Biden would be their first encounter in a year, amid tensions over trade, sanctions and the question of whether Taiwan governs itself or is a Chinese territory.
Talks between the two leaders in November 2022 generated some positive momentum that was swiftly stalled after the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon, delaying a visit to China by the US’s top diplomat, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
Blinken ultimately did make it to Beijing in June this year.
