16 - 26 July, 2025, Shanghai, China

From 16th to 26th July 2025, the International Network of Customs Universities (INCU) hosted its inaugural INCU Summer School at the Dishui Lake Campus of Shanghai Customs University, bringing together Customs professionals, scholars, and students from across the globe. As the Programme Manager of the WCO Asia/Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P), Ms YE Zhengqing had the honour to participate in this milestone event.

Organized by the INCU Shanghai Regional Office, the Summer School marked the formal operational launch of the Office, which aims to deepen Customs academic cooperation in Asia and beyond. The event featured a dynamic programme of lectures, cultural activities, and site visits, promoting both academic learning and intercultural understanding.

During the meeting, Ms. YE, as the representative as the ROCB A/P had a chance to engage in the dialogues with academia introducing ROCB A/P's Customs capacity building efforts in this region.

The Summer School gathered leading Customs academics such as: Prof. David Widdowson (INCU President & Editor-in-Chief of the World Customs Journal), Prof. Wieslaw Czyzowicz (Poland), Prof. Frank Altemöller (Germany), Prof. Samuel Bautista (Philippines), Assoc. Prof. Galina Fedotova (Russia) and Assoc. Prof. Xie Jing (China).

Their lectures addressed a wide array of topics including Customs policy and law, WTO-related issues, risk management, digital Customs, and the Harmonized System. The students,future Customs professionals,actively engaged in discussions, workshops, and field visits to logistics companies and cultural sites in Shanghai.

The 2025 INCU Summer School successfully exemplified the potential of academic-practitioner partnerships in strengthening global Customs capacity. The event also provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect with long-standing partners from academia and foster new links for future collaboration in research and training.

For more information, please contact us at rocbap@rocbap.org