The regime classified 4-piperidone and 1-boc-4-piperidone as List II drug precursors, requiring authorities to track their manufacturing and trade.
The Chinese communist regime announced new controls for two fentanyl precursors on Sunday, following a trade agreement between China and the United States.
From July 20, two chemicals, 4-piperidone and 1-boc-4-piperidone, will be added to the regime’s list of controlled substances, according to a joint statement by six departments, including the National Health Commission, General Administration of Customs, the National Medical Products Administration, and the Ministries of Public Security, Commerce, and Emergency Management.
Under Chinese regulations on List II drug precursors, manufacturers, distributors, and buyers of 4-piperidone and 1-boc-4-piperidone will be required to report the quantity and the destination of the chemicals to local governments. Cross-county transportation of the chemicals require the approval of local police stations.
Since 2013, Fentanyl and its analogues have dramatically pushed up the rate of overdose deaths from synthetic opioids in the United States, from one death per 100,000 people in 2013 to 22.7 per 100,000 in 2022, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, which is under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2022 alone, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl killed 73,838 people in the United States, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Federal prosecutors said fentanyl-related precursors are mainly sourced from China-based chemical manufacturers that often openly advertise the chemicals online.
According to an investigation last year by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, companies in China produced “nearly all fentanyl precursors that are used to manufacture illicit fentanyl worldwide.”
In the United States, 4-piperidone and 1-boc-4-piperidone are both classified as List I chemicals.
Beijing’s gesture on Sunday followed a meeting in the the Chinese capital on June 19 between Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and U.S. Ambassador David Perdue. According to Chinese state media Xinhua, Wang said the regime was willing to work with the United States in areas including counter-narcotics and illegal immigration.
By Lily Zhou
