Transnational drug-trafficking networks are evolving faster than ever, making the global narcotics problem ever more complex. As a result, international counter-narcotics cooperation has become a priority on diplomatic agendas and a necessity for the stability of the international order.

But China-US counter-narcotics cooperation has not been smooth — transitioning from pressure to dialogue, and from politicized disputes back to cooperation. Yet every renewed round of dialogue and every practical step of cooperation is valuable for people's well-being, as it helps build trust, expand consensus and sustain the spirit of cooperation.

Origins of a century-long cooperation and China–US efforts in the global drug control system

China and the United States have a long history of cooperation on drug control. More than a century ago, both countries recognized a basic reality: no country could address cross-border drug production and trafficking alone. In 1904–1905, the US-led Philippine Opium Commission conducted a systematic investigation into the opium trade in East Asia. It subsequently called for broader international inquiry among countries with colonial or strategic interests in the region, laying early groundwork for coordinated policy responses. China, having suffered deeply from opium, responded actively and supported these efforts.

From Feb 1 to 26, 1909, 41 delegates from 13 countries, including China, the United States and the United Kingdom, gathered at the Palace Hotel on the Bund in Shanghai for the International Opium Commission. It was the first time the international community had held a multilateral, systematic discussion on the opium problem. The meeting adopted nine resolutions and, for the first time at the international level, established a basic consensus on banning cultivation, limiting production and controlling trafficking. In this process, US initiative and China's active participation reinforced each other, becoming the earliest and most important driving force behind international counter-narcotics cooperation. Working together, China and the US helped write the first chapter in the global fight against drugs.

To turn the Shanghai resolutions into binding treaty commitments, representatives from 12 countries, including the US, the Netherlands and China, gathered in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Dec 1, 1911 for the International Opium Conference. They adopted the world's first International Opium Convention (the Hague Opium Convention) — which further regulated the production and trade of opium, required countries to restrict opium to medical and scientific use, and laid the first framework for monitoring and control of the narcotics. From the consensus reached in Shanghai to the negotiations in The Hague, China and the United States remained central forces in building the international counter-narcotics regime.

Under the Hague Opium Convention, the international community convened another opium conference in Geneva from November 1924 to February 1925 to bring the convention into force. But the colonial powers, led by the UK, insisted on preserving "exceptions" for their overseas opium trade, in direct conflict with international anti-drug principles. The United States pressed for stricter rules, while China pointed out that the spread of opium in colonies and foreign concessions was undermining its own anti-opium campaign, and that extraterritorial privileges were a major obstacle to effective enforcement. Citing irreconcilable differences, China and the United States withdrew from the conference in protest against double standards.

Although the meeting failed to reach agreement on strict anti-drug measures, the Chinese proposals were later incorporated into the second International Opium Convention (the Geneva Opium Convention) and played an important role in the early development of the international counter-narcotics system.

After that, China and the US continued to work together, promoting the 1931 Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs and the 1936 Convention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs, helping to institutionalize counter-narcotics work under the League of Nations. This period not only laid the basic framework of the global drug-control system, but also gave China-US counter-narcotics cooperation a lasting historical and moral foundation.

China's independent counter-narcotics efforts and China–US cooperation advancing in parallel

The People's Republic of China was founded on Oct 1, 1949. The new China made counter-narcotics work a major task of national governance and social reconstruction. Through strong political mobilization and systematic governance, it took just three years to eliminate the opium scourge left by the old society, earning China the reputation of a drug-free country. Since reform and opening up, however, the drug problem has re-emerged. The Chinese government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy, launched a sustained anti-drug campaign, and improved its drug control system with Chinese characteristics.

The normalization of diplomatic relations between the US and China opened a new chapter in bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation. During US President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972, the two sides held their first formal talks on counter-narcotics cooperation. On Jan 1, 1979, China and the US established diplomatic relations, and counter-narcotics cooperation was quickly added to the bilateral agenda. That year, the two sides began cooperation in customs anti-drug technology exchange and law-enforcement training, marking the start of official contact in this area.

In the 1980s, China-US counter-narcotics cooperation began to show real results. On Oct 18, 1982, China imposed strict controls on methaqualone exports, a milestone seen as the first significant achievement in bilateral chemical-control cooperation. In 1985, a US interagency delegation visited Beijing and held the first bilateral working meeting with China's counter-narcotics authorities. On Oct 15, 1987, the two governments signed the Sino-US Memorandum of Cooperation in Narcotic Drugs Control, establishing an initial institutional framework covering intelligence sharing, personnel training and law-enforcement coordination.

On the ground, joint anti-drug operations continued to make breakthroughs. In 1986, China seized 22.7 kilograms of heroin in Kunming, Yunnan province. That case was linked to a 15-kilogram heroin seizure in New York around the same time, underscoring the growing need for cross-border law-enforcement cooperation. In 1988, China and the United States jointly solved the trans-Pacific drug-smuggling case known as the "Goldfish Case". Because of its scale and the high level of coordination involved, it is regarded as a milestone in China-US law-enforcement cooperation.

In the 1990s, the two countries' anti-drug, customs and health agencies worked more closely together. In May 1998, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington and formally established the Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation. That same year, they exchanged legal officers responsible for counter-narcotics affairs for the first time.

The Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed in 2000 and entering into force in 2001, provided a solid legal basis for evidence sharing, accountability and law-enforcement cooperation in transnational drug-trafficking cases. In 2003, China and the United States jointly broke the "125" transnational smuggling and drug-trafficking case, drawing wide international attention. It was seen as a historic example of cooperation between the two countries' counter-narcotics agencies. In 2005 and 2006, China's narcotics control bureau under the Ministry of Public Security and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as China's National Narcotics Control Commission and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, signed memorandums of understanding on cooperation. They maintained regular, institutionalized communication on case leads, joint investigations and technical exchange, with notable results.

These achievements show the determination and effectiveness of the two countries when they work together, as well as the global value of cooperation between major powers. The 2010 US International Narcotics Control Strategy Report also noted that bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation continued to develop and that intelligence sharing had increased. Over time, counter-narcotics cooperation became one of the most constructive and stable parts of the bilateral relationship.

Broadening consensus through engagement: new directions in China-US counter-narcotics cooperation

From 2012 to 2024, the global drug landscape shifted. New synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances spread rapidly, with highly potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl coming to the fore. As the opioid abuse in the United States worsened, China's narcotics control bureau of the Ministry of Public Security and the US Drug Enforcement Administration maintained close technical exchanges. The two sides held multiple in-depth discussions on the latest drug trends, major case leads and international counter-narcotics positions, and worked together to address the changing situation.

In October 2017, the Eighth China-US Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group Meeting was held in Beijing, during which the two sides discussed issues of mutual concern, including fentanyl and the regulation of new psychoactive substances. On Dec 2, 2018, during the G20 summit in Argentina, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump met and reached an important consensus on strengthening anti-drug law-enforcement cooperation. On May 1, 2019, China became the first country in the world to place fentanyl-related substances under class-wide control. The US 2025 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said that since China imposed such controls in 2019, there had been almost no seizures of fentanyl-related substances entering the United States directly from China.

The two countries also stepped up intelligence sharing and law-enforcement action. In 2017, the Office of China's National Narcotics Control Commission passed on more than 400 leads to the US side on fentanyl and other drug purchases, as well as more than 500 items of intelligence on US buyers of new psychoactive substances. China, the US and other countries jointly solved a number of major international cases, forming a law-enforcement model centered on lead sharing and case coordination. Through multi-level cooperation, the two countries turned fentanyl governance into a model area for counter-narcotics cooperation.

Later, the US imposed sanctions on China's National Narcotics Laboratory on the pretext of alleged human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, seriously damaging the basis of bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation. In August 2022, then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan island led to a temporary suspension of counter-narcotics cooperation. In the second half of 2023, China-US relations began to stabilize, and counter-narcotics became one of the first areas in which the two sides resumed engagement. In November 2023, the two heads of state met in San Francisco and reached important consensus, announcing the establishment of a working group on counter-narcotics cooperation. Bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation then returned to the right track.

On Jan 30, 2024, the first meeting of the China-US counter-narcotics working group was held in Beijing, where the two sides identified priority areas for cooperation. On July 1, China placed 46 new psychoactive substances under class-wide control. On Sep 1, it added seven chemicals, including three fentanyl precursors, to its list of controlled precursor chemicals, giving cooperation fresh momentum. On July 31, a Chinese interagency delegation traveled to the United States for the first high-level meeting of the working group. China's narcotics control bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the US DEA, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection maintained regular communication and collaborated on several related cases, producing breakthrough progress.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2024 fell by 27 percent from 2023, to the lowest level since 2018.

On Feb 1 and March 3, 2025, the US administration twice imposed an additional 10 percent so-called "fentanyl tariff" on Chinese goods, citing concerns over fentanyl precursors. This move not only disrupted global trade and the bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation framework, but also cast a shadow over the pragmatic cooperation needed between China and the US. Many international media outlets pointed out that using tariffs to address transnational drug problems would not stop drugs or precursor chemicals from flowing, and could instead have negative effects on global drug governance.

Even in the more difficult environment, China has remained rational and restrained, while continuing to strengthen its existing controls on precursor chemicals. On March 4, 2025, China's State Council Information Office released a white paper, titled "Controlling Fentanyl-Related Substances — China's Contribution", laying out China's policies, practices and results in this area. This steady governance effort created the conditions for the two sides to resume dialogue and cooperation.

Since May 2025, through a series of concrete actions, China and the US have brought counter-narcotics cooperation back onto a pragmatic track, laying a realistic foundation for greater stability and deeper cooperation. From Oct 25 to 26, the fifth round of China-US economic and trade consultations was held in Kuala Lumpur, where the two sides reached important consensus on fentanyl governance. On Oct 30, the two heads of state met in Busan, and China-US counter-narcotics cooperation began to thaw again under high-level guidance.

The US decided to lift the so-called 10 percent fentanyl tariff, while China added 13 specific types of precursor chemicals in the management catalog, with the new controls explicitly targeting exports to the US, Mexico and Canada. On Nov 8, the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel visited China to discuss counter-narcotics cooperation, the first such visit in 10 years, marking the restoration of an important channel. On Dec 2, the two sides' interagency counter-narcotics teams held their first online video meeting, shared updates, clarified cooperation goals and moved fentanyl cooperation forward.

China-US counter-narcotics cooperation has returned to a stable path, showing the resilience of both sides in this field. Rooted in the two countries' shared concern over the drug problem, this resilience makes clear that temporary fluctuations and friction cannot change the long-term direction of cooperation, nor can they weaken the common responsibility to protect people's lives and public health.

Conclusion

Looking back over more than a century of China-US counter-narcotics cooperation, we can see that it is not only a history of drug law enforcement, but also a process in which the two countries have built consensus and advanced cooperation for human health and dignity amid changing times. The historic interaction at the 1909 International Opium Commission in Shanghai initiated a tradition of cooperation centered on the public good and transcending ideological differences, laying an important foundation for the international counter-narcotics cause.

The significance of China-US counter-narcotics cooperation now goes far beyond the bilateral level. At a time when new synthetic drugs are spreading around the world and the fentanyl crisis in the US is deepening, cooperation has become a necessity, not just a lesson from history. Unilateral pressure is ineffective. It cannot stop the flow of drugs and it cannot address the root causes of synthetic drug production and distribution, instead it damages the cooperation that should be strengthened, The history of China-US cooperation shows that transnational cooperation is one of the most effective ways to respond to the global drug problem. It also shows that when facing a common challenge involving human life and security, cooperation brings mutual benefit, confrontation brings mutual harm, and zero-sum thinking leads nowhere.

Looking ahead, China-US counter-narcotics cooperation will face a complex environment and real tests. But as long as both sides stay true to the original goal of working for human well-being, and uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, cooperation will be able to persist through uncertainty and continue to contribute to global governance. For a drug-free, healthy and peaceful world, China and the US should move forward together and write a new chapter in the global counter-narcotics effort.

The author is the director of the International Center for Drug Policy Studies at Shanghai University.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.