China says it will make adjustments to the catalogue of drug-related precursor chemicals and will require licences for export of certain chemicals to the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The country’s Commerce Ministry made the announcement on Monday. The move follows U.S. President Donald Trump halving the tariffs on Chinese goods that were imposed as a punishment over the flow of fentanyl to 10%. This change came after President Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea 30 October.
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 deal signalled a shift for Trump officials, who had insisted that punitive measures would remain in place until China proved it was cracking down on fentanyl supply chains.
Chinese officials vehemently defend their record on fentanyl, saying they have already taken extensive action to regulate precursor chemicals used to make the drug and accuse Washington of using the issue as "blackmail."
Meeting in South Korea
The Xi-Trump deal went beyond fentanyl and included the resumption of U.S. soybean purchases by China.
Beijing agreed to pause export curbs unveiled in October on rare earths, elements with vital roles in many modern technologies.
FBI in Beijing
Meanwhile, the Federation Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel visited China last week to discuss fentanyl and law enforcement issues according to two people familiar with his trip said.
A person briefed on Patel's trip said the FBI director flew into Beijing on Friday and stayed for about a day. He held talks with Chinese officials on Saturday, the person added.
Patel's visit to Beijing was not officially announced by either the U.S. or China and is being reported by Reuters for the first time.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday that he was not aware of the trip. China's Ministry of Public Security and the U.S. embassy in Beijing did not respond to requests for comment.
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Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
U.S. Central Command said 101 commercial vessels have been redirected in the Strait of Hormuz, while oil prices rose more than three per cent amid fresh regional attacks and supply concerns.
A Russian strike on a farm warehouse in Pryluky, north-central Ukraine, has killed at least three people, local police said. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said an attack on a train near the Polish border was an attempt to intimidate Ukraine's allies.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
A drone hit a petrol station in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv early on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that there was also a strike on warehouse facilities in another part of the city.
University students in Mexico have held a vigil for a 21-year-old Spanish exchange student killed in the central state of Morelos, with authorities investigating her death as a possible feminicide.
Every day since a torrent of mud and rocks destroyed a Nepal-China border crossing high up in the Himalayas last month, Arushi Gupta's parents have called and messaged their missing daughter hoping she somehow survived.
Foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand delivered opening statements on Tuesday at the first meeting of a UN arbitration process to resolve a long-running maritime dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
A federal judge has halted a Trump administration immigration policy that would have significantly changed how long foreign students, exchange visitors and international journalists can remain in the United States.
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