(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325882/china-and-us-agree-target-money-launderers-linked-fentanyl-trade)

Reported by Fan Chen

The United States and China found a rare common ground in their trade talks in Madrid this week, agreeing to work together to crack down on money laundering from illegal fentanylsales.

After the talks ended on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both nations suffered the consequences of the money laundering from the trade.

“The money laundering is the result of fentanyl sales, and both the People’s Republic of China’s government and the US government and citizens are hurt by the money laundering,” he said.

Bessent added that modern money laundering networks were the “offspring” of groups originally designed to evade China’s capital controls and had since morphed to serve Mexican drug cartels.