Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Wednesday outlined an ambitious development plan that envisions a transformative future for China-Africa cooperation, in a significant move to enhance economic ties with a focus on key areas of cooperation.

The plan, approved by the State Council on January 13, outlines ambitious goals for a pilot zone for In-Depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation. By 2027, it is expected to be a significant platform for open cooperation with Africa, and by 2035 it aims to evolve into a globally competitive economic and trade hub.

The plan is in line with China's fast-developing trade relations with Africa. In 2023, China maintained its position as Africa's largest trading partner for the 15th consecutive year, with bilateral trade volume reaching a record high of $288.1 billion, up 1.5 percent from the previous year. Notably, China saw significant growth in exports, including new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products.

The focus of the pilot zone is deepening collaboration in key sectors including trade, investment, finance, and people-to-people exchanges. It also emphasizes cooperation in areas like the digital economy, green and low-carbon technologies, transportation and logistics.

The initiative aims to integrate domestic and international markets, leveraging opportunities from Africa's industrialization, urbanization, and the African Continental Free Trade Area, according to MOFCOM.

In 2024, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation will be focused on infrastructure, trade and investment, Liu Hongwu, dean of African studies at East China's Zhejiang Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Africa is vast, with tremendous opportunities for investment," Liu said. "At the same time, the infrastructure developed by Chinese companies will help tackle the continent's development bottleneck and talent cooperation provides technical workers needed for development."

China is the largest developing country investor in Africa, with its direct investment in the continent exceeding $40 billion by the end of 2023. Africa is also China's second-largest overseas engineering market. Over the past decade, Chinese companies have signed engineering projects in Africa worth over $700 billion and have completed a business turnover of more than $400 billion.

The construction of the pilot zone reflects joint efforts made by MOFCOM and Central China's Hunan Province in exploring the cooperation between China and Africa.

Key policies and measures for expanding external openness and cooperation with Africa will be tested in the zone. These include optimizing market access, fostering cross-border e-commerce, and strengthening connectivity between China's and Africa's markets.

Boosted by the pilot zone, Hunan Province has shown remarkable growth in its economic and trade cooperation with Africa. In 2023, the province's trade with Africa reached 55.67 billion yuan, marking impressive annual average growth of 23.1 percent from 2021 to 2023. This makes Hunan one of the most active regions in China's economic and trade interactions with Africa, Liu noted.

The pilot zone, leveraging the infrastructural and policy innovations of the Hunan Free Trade Pilot Zone, is set to play a crucial role in elevating China-Africa economic and trade cooperation to new levels of efficiency and integration. This initiative represents a significant step in China's ongoing commitment to deepening its relationship with Africa, emphasizing mutual benefits and shared development.

China will always stand firmly with Africa, support Africa in accelerating its independent development, and promote the upgrading of China-Africa cooperation, to deliver more benefits from China-Africa cooperation to African countries, China's top diplomat Wang Yi said in January during his first overseas trip of 2024, which included visits to Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire.