BEIJING: A Chinese official is disputing President Donald Trump's claim that the deadly opioid fentanyl flooding the US is mostly produced in China.
Wei Xiaojun, deputy director-general of the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, says China doesn't dispute that some fentanyl produced illicitly inside the country is contributing to America's opioid epidemic.
But Wei says there isn't sufficient evidence to show that the majority of fentanyl in the US originates in China, based on information exchanged between the countries' anti-drug agencies.
Trump last month said the US was stepping up measures to "hold back the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid manufactured in China and 50 times stronger than heroin." Trump arrives in Beijing Tuesday and says he plans to make fentanyl a priority.