China agreed to halt the production of fentanyl precursor chemicals and to place seven of its chemical subsidiaries under new controls, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday, following a previously unreported trip to Beijing that he said was aimed at curbing the global supply of the deadly synthetic opioid.
Patel said his meetings in China last week, revealed by Reuters on Monday, came at the direction of President Donald Trump, whose Oct. 30 summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea led to renewed bilateral cooperation on narcotics control and trade issues.
“Precursors are what makes up fentanyl,” Patel said during a briefing at the White House, adding that China “has officially designated and listed all 13 precursors used to make fentanyl.”
“While we … have been fighting hard to seize and stop drug traffickers, we must attack fentanyl precursors, the ingredients necessary to make this lethal drug,” Patel said, alluding to the War Department’s recent and increasingly more frequent airstrikes on Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean Sea outside of Trinidad and Tobago.
FBI Director Kash Patel on trip to China and fentanyl precursors: “President Trump has shut off the pipeline that creates fentanyl that kills tens of thousands of Americans. These substances are now banned.” pic.twitter.com/ExkB20UXXy
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 12, 2025
The White House announcement followed a New York Times report earlier this week that revealed that Beijing tightened its export restrictions on a wider range of chemicals tied to synthetic opioid production.
On Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce and four other government agencies added 13 chemicals to a list requiring licenses for export to the United States, Mexico, and Canada, a step analysts said was aimed at implementing the Trump-Xi agreement reached during their meeting in South Korea late last month.
China deal comes amid other efforts to ease trade tensions
China’s new export rules came alongside other gestures to ease trade tensions, including a one-year suspension of sanctions against several U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean and temporary relief for certain port-related measures.
Beijing’s actions were described by Chinese scholar Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, as part of a broader effort “to implement what they agreed to at the summit.”
U.S. officials have long blamed China’s sprawling chemical industry for supplying precursors that Mexican cartels use to manufacture fentanyl, which remains the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. In 2023, there were over 105,000 drug-related deaths in the nation, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
By 2024, the number of fatal overdoses fell by nearly 25%, or roughly 30,000 fewer deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FBI director suggested that if the deal holds true, it could play a major part in hindering the movement of the deadly drugs across the southern border.
“That was the sole purpose of my trip to China, to eliminate these precursors, and if successful, we would suffocate the drug-trafficking organizations’ ability to manufacture fentanyl in places like Mexico,” Patel added, saying this was the first time a bureau director traveled to China in more than a decade. It is not immediately clear which previous director traveled to China prior to his most recent trip.
Patel’s trip announcement follows criticism over FBI plane usage
The unreported trip to China came at a time when the director is facing public criticism for his use of the bureau’s private jet for a reported trip to see his girlfriend.
Justice Department officials on Wednesday pushed back heavily on the Wall Street Journal‘s reporting about the frustrations and criticisms of Patel’s use of the jet allegedly elevating to the top of the Justice Department, including to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Fake news by WSJ gets shot called
https://t.co/ODpmZTQPLx https://t.co/kFpYkmj3PQ
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) November 12, 2025
“Fake news by WSJ gets shot called,” Patel posted to X on Wednesday, pointing to a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who called the outlet’s reporting “flat-out false.”
DRUG BOAT STRIKES ARE TIED TO VENEZUELA. THAT’S NOT WHERE THE FENTANYL COMES FROM
“The Attorney General and I have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Director Patel every step of the way,” Blanche added. “Any anonymous coward spreading lies to divide this Department insults the men and women of law enforcement who risk their lives to keep this country safe.”
The Washington Examiner contacted a representative from the FBI for comment.