(MENAFN- Live Mint) FBI Director Kash Patel visited China last week to hold talks on fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, and law enforcement cooperation, shortly after a summit between the US and Chinese presidents, where both highlighted a“consensus” on the issue.

A person aware of Patel's trip told Reuters that the chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation landed in Beijing on Friday and stayed for about a day. He discussed the issues with Chinese officials the next day.

The director's visit to Beijing was not officially announced by either the United States or China. Even Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday that he was not aware of the trip, Reuters reported.

China vows to stop flow of fentanyl

China's Commerce Ministry announced on Monday that the country will make changes to the catalogue of drug-related precursor chemicals and will mandate the requirement of licences for export of certain chemicals to the United States, Canada and Mexico.

This announcement came after the US President Donald Trump cut the fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese imports, halving it from 20% to 10%, effective from 10 November. This agreement was reached during his last month's talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

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Xi will work“very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths, Trump told reporters after the talks.

The fentanyl crisis has led to over 112,000 deaths in the US due to overdose in 2024 alone, making it America's number one cause of death for adults under 45. While pharmaceutical fentanyl treats severe pain, illegal versions are typically smuggled from labs in China and Mexico.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the details of the fresh consensus would be hashed out through a new bilateral working group. However, it remains unclear whether Patel discussed this new mechanism during his recent visit to Beijing, Reuters said in the news report.

What happened in Trump-Xi deal?

The deal signalled a shift for the Trump administration, who had insisted that punitive measures would remain in place until China succeeds in proving that it was cracking down on fentanyl supply chains.

Chinese officials have repeatedly defended their record on fentanyl, saying they have already taken extensive action to regulate precursor chemicals used to make the drug. They further alleged that Washington is using the fentanyl issue as a“blackmail” tactic, Reuters reported.

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The Xi-Trump deal was not limited to the fentanyl issue, and also included the resumption of US soybean purchases by China. Additionally, Beijing agreed to pause export curbs that it imposed in October on rare earths, elements that play vital roles in the manufacturing process of many modern-day technologies such as medical equipment, electric vehicles and smartphones.

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