Beijing, March 19 - Chinese authorities arrested seven individuals and subjected 12 others to "criminal compulsory measures" as part of a campaign aimed at dismantling trafficking networks for precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, state media reported on Thursday.
The official Xinhua news agency said the special operation in the central province of Hubei produced 22 cases involving precursor chemicals for fentanyl. The campaign was launched in December after a directive from the public security ministry, Xinhua reported, and was intended to address the entire supply chain - from production and storage to export.
For years, the United States has urged China to take stronger action against sellers of chemicals used to manufacture the powerful synthetic opioid blamed for thousands of U.S. overdose deaths each year. Prior to this campaign, Beijing had issued industry notices and removed websites that facilitated trade in such substances, but those steps stopped short of wide-ranging arrests.
The newly publicized legal actions - culminating in arrests and compulsory measures - mark a more visible enforcement effort. The announcement arrived as U.S.-China trade delegations met over the weekend to prepare for a planned leaders' summit in Beijing later in March, a meeting that has been postponed for now because of the war in Iran, according to reports.
After taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted China's prior inaction when he imposed tariffs of 20% - a rate since halved after a meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea last year - in part to press for a crackdown on fentanyl networks, the reports said.
Contextual note on investment research referenced in initial reports
The material accompanying the initial report also included a promotional segment about investment research tools. It noted that better data can improve investment decisions and referenced a product called InvestingPro+, described as combining institutional-grade data with AI-powered insights designed for users without advanced finance degrees. The segment stated that the tool does not guarantee winners but aims to improve the odds of identifying promising investments in 2026, and it closed with an invitation to consult a feature called WarrenAI.
While state media provided the case count and described the operation's scope, details on the identities of those arrested, the precise chemicals involved, and the locations of production or storage sites were not disclosed in the report.