As presidents Trump and Xi convene for the first time in six years, fresh scrutiny falls on a 2024 congressional probe branding China the “ultimate source” of fentanyl precursors—subsidized by the CCP.

By Probe International

In the wake of today’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, we are revisiting the findings of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from April 2024.

These findings revealed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) role in the North American (albeit global) fentanyl epidemic and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), under the leadership of Xi Jinping, as the “ultimate geographic source” of this crisis as the supplier of “nearly all of illicit fentanyl precursors, the key ingredients that drive the global illicit fentanyl trade.” [See: Investigation Findings: The CCP’s Role in the Fentanyl Crisis].

The investigation asserted that the CCP directly subsidizes the production and export of illicit fentanyl precursors, provides financial incentives to companies involved in drug trafficking, and fails to prosecute those responsible, all while allowing the open sale of these dangerous substances online.

This crisis, the investigation revealed, not only contributes to a historic decline in American life expectancy but also enriches Chinese organized crime and the chemical industry, and highlights the CCP’s complicity in a global health disaster that extends far beyond U.S. borders. Despite acknowledging the illegality of these activities, the CCP has not taken meaningful action to curb the trafficking of fentanyl precursors, raising serious concerns about its commitment to addressing this urgent public health crisis.

As part of a series examining the role of the PRC in the ongoing fentanyl crisis in the United States, an April 2025 report by the Modern War Institute (MWI), a research center at the United States Military Academy at West Point, argued that the CCP was inclined to “view the fentanyl crisis as another vector to further its strategic interests by undermining U.S. society”:

… the PRC’s role in the fentanyl crisis is consistent with a broader strategy of asymmetric warfare intended to undermine American interests. The PRC’s efforts to conceal direct evidence of its role in fentanyl operations should not divert attention from a larger pattern of strategic behavior. Its documented involvement in a wide range of asymmetric campaigns—from intellectual property (IP) theft and corporate espionage to cyber intrusions and economic coercion—demonstrates a consistent strategy of advancing national objectives through unconventional means.

President Trump expressed confidence following today’s meeting in South Korea that Beijing would take “strong action” to curb the flow of precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production, stating to reporters that he believed “[Xi is] gonna work very hard to stop the death that’s coming in.”

However, one only need look to Beijing’s actions on climate—what it says and what it does—as an indication of what societies of the West can expect going forward.