BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, with bilateral trade reaching a record 282.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, a Ministry of Commerce official said on Wednesday.

"Economic and trade cooperation is the ballast and propeller of China-Africa relations," said Ministry of Commerce official Jiang Wei said at a press conference.

China's State Council has approved a general plan to build a pilot zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

According to the plan, China will establish the pilot zone as a platform for opening-up to and cooperation with Africa that has a certain level of international influence by 2027.

"The main goal is to build an internationally competitive platform for cooperation with Africa," Jiang said.

In the years to come, the two sides will give full play to the leading role of the pilot zone, promote the transformation and upgrading of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and deliver more benefits to the people in China and Africa, he said.