The finance minister met with the deputy governor of the People's Bank of China. What did they discuss

On September 20, 2024, the Kyrgyz Minister of Finance Almaz Baketaev, the Chairman of the National Bank Melis Turgunbaev and the Minister of Economy and Commerce Daniyar Amangeldiev met with the Deputy Chairman of the People's Bank of China Zhang Qingsong in the building of the Chinese People's Bank.

The event was held within the  Intergovernmental Kyrgyz-Chinese Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation narrow session and the 8th Silk Road Expo opening ceremony. The participants discussed key issues of financial cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China, including foreign investments attraction and issuance of government securities in Yuan to expand the securities market.

The Kyrgyz side raised the issues of providing guarantees by Chinese financial institutions for the successful placement of securities, and the conclusion of a mutual settlement agreement between the People's Bank of China and the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The accession of the National Bank to the cross-border interbank payment system was also discussed. Minister Almaz Baketaev expressed Kyrgyzstan's interest in using this payment system and emphasized the importance of resuming negotiations on the swap agreement between the central banks.

In addition, the issues of Kyrgyz commercial banks' cooperation with the Bank of China were considered, since only two out of 21 banks have correspondent relations with this financial organization. The meeting demonstrated the readiness of both sides to deepen cooperation in financing and increase trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and China.