Lab drug 'not cause of US deaths'

Powerful opioid is variant of chemical that killed musician Prince in April

China hasn't blacklisted carfentanil, a synthetic opioid, as a controlled substance, thus it can still be legally produced by qualified chemical companies, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Public Security's Narcotics Control Bureau, who declined to be named.

He spoke to China Daily in an exclusive interview, responding to recent media reports in Western countries such as the United States and Canada alleging that China-exported carfentanil had caused a rise in overdose deaths there.