On October 17, 2023, an informal meeting of Central Asia countries and China customs services heads took place in Beijing, in which the chairman of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan took part. Timed to coincide with the third forum of international cooperation “One Belt, One Road”, this meeting was a continuation of the negotiations that took place between the heads of customs services of the Central Asia countries and China online on April 21 this year.

Taking into account the agreements reached during the first online meeting, the agenda included issues of interaction in such areas as cooperation within the framework of the Single Window project, management of border checkpoints between China and five Central Asian countries, customs risk management, exchange of experience in areas of non-intrusive inspection, mutual recognition of authorized economic operator status, cooperation in law enforcement, as well as preliminary exchange of customs data.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to accelerate the practical implementation of the discussed issues to promote the active development of the One Belt, One Road initiative.