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The United States and China are set to conduct their first joint working group meeting on fentanyl precursor chemicals in Beijing on Tuesday.

A senior U.S. official speaking to politico emphasized the significance of this meeting, stating, “This is a key part of the implementation of our bilateral cooperation on this effort.” The meeting comes in the context of the U.S. identifying China as the primary source of precursor chemicals used by Mexican cartels to synthesize fentanyl, a claim that China denies.

The U.S. official revealed that China began taking action against companies producing these precursor chemicals around the time of the summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November. The U.S. plans to continue law enforcement actions and impose controls on these chemicals, marking the upcoming meeting as a critical juncture in addressing the issue. This collaboration follows candid discussions in Bangkok aimed at easing U.S.-China tensions and precedes an anticipated call between Biden and Xi this spring.

Relations between the U.S. and China have been strained on various fronts, including disputes over COVID-19 origins, trade tariffs, Taiwan, and human rights issues. However, the effort to curb fentanyl flow has been a topic of discussion between Biden and Xi, with the U.S. reporting a decrease in seizures of illicit chemicals used in fentanyl production at U.S. airports following China’s crackdown on manufacturers.

Additionally, the U.S. official noted that China has initiated dialogues with Mexico regarding the fentanyl issue, underscoring the multilateral nature of this challenge. Recent interactions between the two nations have included meetings between high-ranking officials such as Chinese official Liu Jianchao and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as phone calls between U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao.