The 4th EU-China Dialogue on Drugs and the 9th EU-China Joint Follow-up Group Meeting on Drug Precursors took place this week in Beijing.

On the European side, participants included the European Commission (DG HOME and DG TAXUD,) Europol and the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), joined by representatives of the Council of the European Union , European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and EU Member States. On the Chinese side, counterparts were the National Narcotics Control Commission, the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The discussions covered drug policy and situation, law enforcement action, synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances, precursors and chemical control, prevention and treatment, and developments in international fora. Both sides agreed to regularly and timely exchange on all drug policy developments, control of substances, prevention and treatment including ways to address drug-related harm, drug monitoring, law enforcement, and forensic drug analysis and appointed contact points to this end. They will exchange views ahead of the upcoming sessions of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The 5th EU–China Dialogue on Drugs will take place in the EU in 2026.

The meetings also reaffirmed the importance of the 2017 strategic agreement between the Ministry of Public Security and Europol.

During the Dialogue, the European Union reiterated its principled opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances, and in particular underlined its disagreement with its application to drug-related offences.

In parallel, a high-level bilateral meeting between DG HOME, Europol and the Ministry of Public Security addressed broader security issues such as organised crime, economic crime (including money laundering), online fraud, online crime and social media and trafficking in human beings, among others.