US and China , Launch Efforts to Combat , Fentanyl Crisis.<br />On January 30, officials from the United States <br />and China met to discuss a joint effort to take action <br />on stemming the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.<br />'TIME' reports that the meeting comes as a sign <br />of cooperation between the two global powers <br />to manage the ongoing fentanyl crisis.<br />The new counternarcotics working group met for <br />their first two-day meeting, focusing on ingredients <br />for the synthetic opioid that are manufactured in China.<br />In November of 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed <br />to resume cooperation on combating drug trafficking in a <br />meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco.<br />In November of 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed <br />to resume cooperation on combating drug trafficking in a <br />meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco.<br />The U.S. is looking for China to increase efforts <br />to curb the export of chemicals that are processed <br />into fentanyl before being smuggled into the U.S.<br />'TIME' reports that synthetic opioids like <br />fentanyl have emerged as the deadliest <br />killers in the ongoing U.S. drug crisis.<br />According to the Centers for Disease <br />Control and Prevention, over 100,000 deaths <br />were linked to drug overdoses in 2022.<br />Over two-thirds of those overdoses were linked <br />with fentanyl or other similar synthetic opioids.<br />In exchange for cooperation on combating the flow of <br />fentanyl, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions imposed on <br />China in 2020 over human rights violations against Uyghurs.<br />In exchange for cooperation on combating the flow of <br />fentanyl, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions imposed on <br />China in 2020 over human rights violations against Uyghurs.<br />According to State Department spokesperson <br />Matthew Miller, lifting the sanctions was <br />“an appropriate step to take” given what China was <br />willing to do on the trafficking of fentanyl precursors
