China Demonstrates Its Image as a Responsible Major Country on International Drug Control
中国在国际禁毒领域彰显负责任大国形象
9 August 2022
2022年8月9日
Narcotic drugs are a common enemy of mankind, and controlling the drug problem concerns the future and destiny of human beings. The current international drug tide continues to spread, while drug types, drug production, and drug addicts keep increasing, posing a serious threat to the survival and development of human beings. The Chinese nation has suffered a lot from the scourge of drugs, by which the people are deeply afflicted. Consequently, China attaches great importance to drug control, pursues a strict anti-drug policy, and takes a “zero tolerance” attitude to drugs. By unremittingly carrying out the fight against drugs, persevering in solving the drug problem, China has achieved remarkable outcomes on drug control and the situation has shown positive changes in an overall good and continuous improvement.
毒品是人类的公害，治理毒品问题事关人类前途命运。当前国际毒潮持续泛滥，全球毒品种类、毒品产量、吸毒人员不断增多，对人类生存发展构成严重威胁。中华民族曾经饱受毒祸之害，中国人民对毒品有切肤之痛。中国政府历来高度重视禁毒工作，一贯奉行厉行禁毒政策，始终保持对毒品问题“零容忍”态度，坚持不懈开展禁毒斗争，锲而不舍解决毒品问题，推动禁毒工作取得显著成效，禁毒形势呈现整体向好、持续改观的积极变化。
The first is to maintain a high-pressure crackdown and vigorously curb drug-related crimes. Regarding the regular modes of drug smuggling and trafficking, relentless efforts were made to implement strategies to address the root causes of drug demand and drug supply while launching operations to combat drug-related crimes. The last five years saw 451,000 drug-related cases solved in China, 588,000 suspects arrested, 305 tons of drugs seized. Drug-related cases dropped from 140,000 in 2017 to 54,000 in 2021. The second is to strengthen rehabilitation services and continue to consolidate the effectiveness of drug rehabilitation and recovery. Thanks to the Campaign “Care for Drug Users”, the scale of drug abuse kept shrinking down. As of the end of 2021, there were 1.49 million registered drug users nationwide with a decrease of 42.1% from the end of 2016, and 3.4 million people who didn’t relapse for more than three years after withdraw, which was 2.4 times of the end of 2016. The third is to deepen publicity and education, and enhance the awareness of the public on prevention and rejection of drugs. With prevention first, extensive anti-drug publicity and education were carried out, and a full-coverage drug prevention education system was built. There were 121,000 newly discovered drug users in 2021, down by 72.8% compared to 2016. Newly discovered drug users had declined for five consecutive years continued to show the achievements made in addressing drug abuse problems.
一是保持严打高压，有力遏制毒品犯罪活动。针对毒品走私贩运活动的规律特点，围绕“清源断流”战略，持续加大打击整治工作力度。近五年来，全国共破获毒品犯罪案件45.1万起，抓获犯罪嫌疑人58.8万名，缴获毒品305吨。毒品案件由2017年的14万起下降至2021年的5.4万起。二是强化戒治服务，持续巩固戒毒康复成效。推进吸毒人员“平安关爱”行动，国内毒品滥用规模日趋缩小。三是深化宣传教育，增强全民识毒防毒拒毒意识。坚持预防为先，广泛开展禁毒宣传教育，构建全覆盖毒品预防教育体系。新发现吸毒人数连续5年下降，毒品滥用治理成效持续显现。
Facing the globalization of the drug problem, the Chinese government has always adhered to the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, firmly upheld the stance of strictly implementing drug control, earnestly fulfilled its international drug control responsibilities, actively promoted global drug control regime, and strived to contribute China’s efforts to the international drug control cause as a responsible major country. China firmly supports the three international drug control conventions, adheres to the commitments made in the 2016 Special General Assembly Outcome Document and the 2019 Ministerial Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the CND, pragmatically promotes bilateral and multilateral international cooperation on drug control, and actively and comprehensively participates in the international drug control cause. China keeps deepening intelligence exchanges and law enforcement cooperation with other countries, and actively carrying out joint operations to combat transnational drug crimes. Within the framework of the UN, the SCO, the BRICS and other multilateral organizations, China also plays an active role, and promotes the establishment of a mutually beneficial and win-win, pragmatic, efficient, co-governance and shared cooperative relationship to address the challenges posed by the drug problem.
面对毒品问题全球化的大势，中国政府始终坚持构建人类命运共同体理念，坚定奉行厉行禁毒的立场主张，认真履行国际禁毒责任，积极推进全球毒品共治，以负责任大国的姿态，努力为国际禁毒事业贡献中国力量。中方坚定支持国际禁毒三项公约，遵守2016年特别联大成果文件、2019年麻委会高级别会议部长级宣言中的承诺，务实推进双边、多边禁毒国际合作，积极、全面参与国际禁毒事业。深化与各国禁毒情报交流与执法合作，积极开展联合扫毒行动，联手打击跨国毒品犯罪；在联合国及上合组织、金砖国家等多边组织框架下发挥积极作用，推动构建互利共赢、务实高效、共治共享的合作关系，应对毒品问题带来的挑战。
In recent years, with the changes in the international drug control situation, new drugs such as fentanyl have been widely abused in some countries such as the United States, and the number of deaths has increased year by year, causing serious social problems. With a view to the health, safety and wellbeing of the entire mankind, China provided sufficient, comprehensive and selfless assistance to the countries concerned to deal with it. There was no prominent hazards or large-scale abuse of fentanyl substances in China, nor cases of death due to fentanyl use. On a humanitarian standpoint, from 2017 to 2018, China scheduled six fentanyl substances and 2 precursor chemicals in two actions, which was more than the number of varieties listed by the United Nations at that time. On May 1, 2019, the Chinese government took the lead globally in officially scheduling fentanyl substances as a class, playing an important role in preventing its illegal production, trafficking and abuse. Since the scheduling, there has not been a single case of manufacturing, trafficking of smuggling of fentanyl substances found China, which has been fully recognized by the international community.
近年来，随着国际禁毒形势发生变化，芬太尼类物质等新型毒品在美国等一些国家大规模流行滥用，致死人数逐年攀升，引发严重社会问题。对此，中方站在维护全人类健康、安全和福祉的高度，对有关国家给予充分的、全面的、无私的帮助，应对解决。芬太尼问题在中国并不突出，中国国内尚未发现成规模滥用芬太尼类物质现象，更没有发现因吸食芬太尼类物质致死案例。本着人道主义立场，2017年至2018年，中方两次增列了6种芬太尼类物质及2种前体，超过了当时联合国列管品种。2019年5月1日，中国政府在全球范围内率先正式对芬太尼类物质进行整类列管，为防范其非法制贩及滥用发挥了重要作用。整类列管以来，全国未发现一起制贩和走私芬太尼类物质案件，得到了国际社会充分认可。
As the biggest producer and user of fentanyl drugs in the world, the US has a fentanyl problem more rampant than other countries, but it has not officially scheduled fentanyl substances permanently yet. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States reached a record high of 93,000, among which 69,700 were caused by opioids overdose, up by over 30% year-on-year. Against the backdrop of increasingly strict control of fentanyl substances in the world, including in China, America’s worsening fentanyl crisis and rising deaths resulting from it have shown that it has not addressed the crux of the problem. The US has not yet taken permanent measures so far, but instead confounds right with wrong, persistently deflects blame. Some American politicians and media are still hyping up such disinformation as “American fentanyl mainly origins from China”, “Chinese fentanyl precursors flow into the United States via Mexico”. This is like telling others to take the medicine for one’s own illness. This wrong approach is not constructive at all and such blame-shifting highly irresponsible to the American people. We urge the US to respect the facts, find out reasons for fentanyl abuse from its own perspective, and evaluate China’s efforts objectively and fairly, rather than shifting the conflict and blaming other countries.
美国作为全球芬太尼问题最为突出的国家，也是全球芬太尼类药品最大的生产国和使用国，却至今仍未正式整类列管芬太尼类物质。据美疾病控制中心报告，2020年，美吸毒致死人数创历史新高，高达9.3万人。其中，阿片类物质致死6.97万人，相比2019年上升30%多。在国际社会及中国芬太尼类物质管控越来越严的情况下，美芬太尼问题持续恶化，致死人数不降反升，说明美方没有抓住解决药物滥用的关键问题。美国时至今日仍未采取实质性举措，反而混淆是非，一味推卸责任。个别美国政客和媒体不断炒作“美国芬太尼主要来自中国”“中国芬太尼前体经墨西哥向美国流入”等不实内容。这种“自己生病却让别人吃药”的错误做法不具建设性，是对美国民众极不负责任的“甩锅”行为。我们敦促美方尊重事实，更多从自身查找芬太尼滥用问题的原因，客观公正评价中方所作努力，而不是转嫁矛盾，归咎他国。
In June 2018, witnessed by the heads of state of China and Iran, the two governments signed the MoU on Drug Control Cooperation, which laid a solid legal foundation for the drug control cooperation between the two countries. In recent years, the narcotics control departments of the two sides have deepened cooperation and exchanged intelligence, which has demonstrated good cooperation effectiveness in combating international drug trafficking groups, and the cooperation foundation has been continuously deepened and consolidated. We are ready to work with various countries, including Iran, to establish cooperative relations featuring equality, mutual trust and win-win, and address the drug problems together, with a view to contributing Chinese wisdom and efforts to global drug control for the benefit of people of all countries.
2018年6月，在中伊两国元首见证下，两国政府签署了《禁毒合作谅解备忘录》，为两国禁毒合作奠定了坚实的法律基础。近年来，双方禁毒部门深化合作，互通情报，在打击国际贩毒集团中体现了良好合作效力，合作基础不断加深巩固。中方愿与包括伊朗在内的世界各国一道，推动建立平等互信、合作共赢的合作关系，携手解决毒品难题，为促进全球毒品治理、消除毒品危害、造福各国人民贡献中国智慧和中国力量。