China will add fentanyl-related substances to a supplementary list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances with non-medical use since May 1.

The decision was announced Monday in a joint statement by the Ministry of Public Security, the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration.

Fentanyl and its analogues that were previously included in the list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as the related substances in the supplementary list, will remain to be controlled according to relevant regulations, the statement said. </s> BEIJING (Reuters) - China will add fentanyl-related substances to a supplementary list of controlled narcotic drugs from May 1, the government said on Monday.

The statement was jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the National Health commission and National Medical Products Administration.

U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer said in March he would prefer to include China’s commitments to curb fentanyl in any trade agreement.

A senior China diplomat said in December China and the United States had agreed to action in the control of narcotics including fentanyl. </s> China has announced that it would begin regulating all fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances, in a change officials in the United States had long advocated as a way to stem the flow of lethal opioids from the Asian nation.

The sweeping change in the way China regulates drugs that mimic fentanyl takes effect on May 1.

“We firmly believe that listing the entire class of fentanyl substances will completely block the loopholes that enable lawbreakers to evade punishment by simply modifying one or several atoms, functional groups or other groups,” Liu Yuejin, vice commissioner of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, said at a press conference on Monday.

“It will effectively prevent the massive abuse of fentanyl substances and illegal drug trafficking and smuggling activities, and contribute to global drug control with China’s wisdom and power.”

China already controls 25 variants of fentanyl, plus two precursors used to make the drug.

Data from the US Drug Enforcement Administration have shown that when China bans a variant of fentanyl, seizures of that analogue in the US fall.

US officials have repeatedly pointed to China as the main source of synthetic opioids shipped into the country directly by mail or transported via Mexico – a claim repeatedly denied by Beijing.

“China’s control over fentanyl drugs is very strict,” Liu told reporters. “It cannot be the main source for the United States. The US accusation lacks evidence and is contrary to the facts.”

“We believe that the United States itself is the main factor in the abuse of fentanyl there,” Liu said, adding that American culture was partly to blame.

Fentanyl is a narcotic 50 times stronger than heroin and has caused record overdose deaths in the US.

A new study published last month by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed a rise in drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl from 2011 to 2016 across the US.

The issue has figured in trade talks between the US and China, and Beijing promised to list the drug when presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a tariffs truce in December.

“The US is concerned about all variants (of fentanyl), and it’s all been resolved,” said Liu on Monday.

US officials listening in the audience declined to comment.

In December, Trump said the move could be a “game changer”, noting that Chinese courts can sentence drug traffickers to death.

“If China cracks down on this ‘horror drug,’ using the Death Penalty for distributors and pushers, the results will be incredible!” Trump tweeted at the time.

The move comes as China’s top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, prepares to return to Washington this week for more talks following discussions in Beijing last week. </s> Beijing -- China said Monday it would soon begin regulating all fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances. The change has long been pushed for by U.S. officials, including President Trump, as a way to stem the flow of lethal opioids from China.

The sweeping change in the way China regulates drugs that mimic fentanyl takes effect May 1 and could help end the game of regulatory whack-a-mole with chemists who can manufacture novel opioids faster than they can be banned. It could also facilitate prosecutions of opioid merchants in China, who until now have skirted the law by manufacturing and exporting fentanyl variants that were technically legal in China.

"We firmly believe that listing the entire class of fentanyl substances will completely block the loopholes that enable law breakers to evade punishment by simply modifying one or several atoms, functional groups or other groups," said Liu Yuejin, vice-commissioner of China's National Narcotics Control Commission. "It will effectively prevent the massive abuse of fentanyl substances and illegal drug trafficking and smuggling activities, and contribute to global drug control with China's wisdom and power."
• One man's fight not to be another fentanyl victim

Monday's announcement from China's Ministry of Public Security, National Health Commission and National Medical Products Administration makes good on a pledge Chinese President Xi Jinping made to Mr. Trump during the G-20 summit in Argentina late last year.

At the time, Mr. Trump said China's new regulations could be "a game changer" for the United States, where tens of thousands of people die annually from opioid overdoses.

China already controls 25 variants of fentanyl, plus two precursors used to make the drug. Data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have shown that when China bans a variant of fentanyl, seizures of that analog in the U.S. fall.

U.S. officials have repeatedly pointed to China as the main source of synthetic opioids shipped into the country directly by mail or transported via Mexico. China on Monday again denied that claim.

"China's control over fentanyl drugs is very strict," Liu told reporters. "It cannot be the main source for the United States. The U.S. accusation lacks evidence and is contrary to the facts."

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 times stronger than heroin or cocaine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). It was first developed to relieve pain in cancer patients, but has become a primary culprit in U.S. drug overdose deaths.

Fatal drug overdoses peaked in 2018, and according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of deaths from overdoses involving fentanyl was more than 11 times higher in 2016 than in 2011. </s> Beijing (CNN) The Chinese government will add fentanyl-related substances to their list of controlled drugs from May 1, in a move aimed at curtailing the manufacturing and distribution of one of the world's most powerful opioids.

The new laws are likely to be interpreted as win for US President Donald Trump, who has taken a strong stance against fentanyl and was full of praise for China in December 2018 when President Xi Jinping first agreed to the move.

"This could be a game changer on what is considered to be the worst and most dangerous, addictive and deadly substance of them all," Trump posted on Twitter at the time.

An extremely powerful synthetic drug, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin.

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl was used in one in four overdose deaths in the US in 2018, killing just over 18,000 people in one year and overtaking heroin and oxycodone as the country's most deadly drug.

Read More </s> China said Monday it is adding all fentanyl-related compounds to its list of controlled substances, beginning May 1.

U.S. officials have long campaigned for the move. Fentanyl, and compounds that mimic its effects, are blamed for tens of thousands of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. each year.

"The U.S. is concerned about all variants (of fentanyl) and it's all been resolved," Liu Yuejin, the deputy director of China's National Drug Commission said Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last year, if China placed controls on fentanyl, the move would be a "game changer." </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption The illegal sale of fentanyl is fuelling the US opioid crisis

China says it will crack down on all types of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, following a plea from the US.

All fentanyl-related substances will be added to China's list of controlled narcotic drugs from 1 May, officials said.

It follows a pledge Beijing made during US-China trade talks in December.

The powerful painkiller, much of it believed to be made in China, is said to be driving a huge rise in drug addiction in the US.

The number of deaths from painkillers such as fentanyl led to President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency in 2017.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption On America's trail of destruction

China's production of the drug has long been a source of tension between the two countries.

"The US is concerned about all variants [of fentanyl] and it has all been resolved," Liu Yuejin, deputy director of China's narcotics control commission, told a news conference.

Mr Liu said the claim that China was the main source of fentanyl "lacked evidence", and instead blamed a history of abuse of prescription medicine in the US for fuelling demand.

"We believe that the United States itself is the main factor in the abuse of fentanyl there," he said.

"Some people link drug consumption with freedom, individuality, and liberation. If the US really wants to resolve the fentanyl substance problem they have more work to do domestically."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Vancouver's unusual approach offers opioid users injection sites, antidotes and even heroin on prescription

Fentanyl itself is already on China's list of controlled drugs. Expanding the list to all fentanyl-related substances is aimed at stopping smugglers from changing formulas to circumvent the law.

Fentanyl is estimated to be 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and is usually only approved in the US for severe pain arising in cases like treatment for cancer.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Liu Yuejin blamed US culture for fuelling demand for fentanyl

The US says the synthetic drug is being sold on the internet and sent by post from China, fuelling the opioid crisis.

US authorities list all fentanyl-related products in the most dangerous class of drugs.

In 2017, the US announced the first ever indictments against two Chinese individuals for conspiracy "to distribute large quantities" of fentanyl as well as other opioids.

The issue over fentanyl figured during a trade war between China and the US that erupted last year.

China's pledge to control the drug came during a post-G20 summit between the two countries in Buenos Aires in December. </s> Trump agrees to temporarily halt U.S. trade war with China

In exchange for pause in tariff increase, China will buy "very substantial amount" of American goods and make the opioid fentanyl a controlled substance. </s> BEIJING - A court in southern China handed down sentences Tuesday to at least six foreigners involved in an international methamphetamine operation, including a Canadian given the death penalty.

The Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court in southern Guangdong province sentenced 11 people who produced more than 63 kilograms (139 pounds) of methamphetamine, an illegal drug.

Among them were one American and four Mexicans, who were all given life sentences or death sentences suspended by a period of two years. The court statement did not make clear which individual received what sentence, nor did it give their full names,

The Canadian sentenced to death was identified as “Fan Wei,” but it was unclear whether that’s the person’s legal name. A person identified as Wu Ziping, whose nationality was not specified, was also handed the death sentence.

The sentence is likely to further strain Sino-Canadian relations, which have frayed since Canada arrested a Chinese tech executive last December at the request of the U.S. Since then, China has detained two Canadians and delayed some Canadian exports in apparent retaliation.

According to the court, Fan Wei and Wu conspired to manufacture and sell the drugs in 2012, and brought the others — described as “drug-making technicians” — on board. Between July and November of that year, the court says, the group set up a “den” in Guangdong’s Taishan city, where they produced and sold more than 63 kilograms of methamphetamine and 365.9 grams of dimethyl amphetamine.

A court employee reached by phone declined to give further details on the case.

In a separate drug smuggling case, China sentenced Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death in a sudden retrial January — one month after Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained on vague national security allegations. The moves were widely seen as punishment for Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom company Huawei.

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China has also suspended the license of two major Canadian canola exporters, alleging that officials discovered hazardous organisms in canola seed shipments.
China announces that it will add fentanyl to a list of regulated narcotic drugs on May 1, 2019 in an effort to curtail its manufacturing.