Since its inception in January 2021, the construction of the African continent free trade area (FTA) has been steadily advancing in the challenges such as COVID-19, pushing the African continent towards economic integration. Industry insiders said that the new opportunities brought by the African free trade area for cooperation between Africa and China are gradually emerging. In an interview with African media last month, Manet, Secretary General of the African free trade area, said that 39 countries had confirmed to the African Union (AU) the ratification of the African continent free trade agreement. Au Member States reached a consensus on tariffs on more than 80% of goods of African origin and had launched a dispute settlement mechanism. On January 13 this year, the Secretariat of the African free trade area, together with the Export Import Bank of Africa and other institutions, officially launched the Pan African payment and settlement system in Accra, the capital of Ghana, enabling African countries to make timely, safe and rapid payments in their own currencies on the African continent, which is expected to save $5 billion in payment costs for the African continent every year. Menet said that these measures reflect the progressive momentum of the African free trade area and the determination of African countries to promote the market unification of the region. They will further promote trade and investment on the African continent and accelerate the process of industrialization. According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2021, the total trade volume between China and Africa exceeded US $250 billion, a new high since 2014. The website of the Ministry of Commerce of China announced in November 2021 that the Ministry of Commerce and the Secretariat of the African continent free trade area signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of an economic cooperation expert group. Qian Keming, Vice Minister of Commerce, said that while promoting Africa's own development and revitalization, the construction of the African free trade area will also bring important opportunities for the development of China Africa economic and trade relations. John Ghazi, Dean of the Business School of Cape Coast University in Ghana, said that the African free trade area will create a huge market for the free flow of goods and services, which can be predicted to be more attractive to Chinese investors. He said that a series of recent actions in the construction of the African free trade area have made this attraction increasingly apparent. Taking the Pan African payment and settlement system as an example, it eliminates the obstacles to payment in different currencies among African countries. Once Chinese products are connected to the African market, they will flow more freely in the African continent. "As cross-border payment becomes more and more convenient, Chinese investors will undoubtedly further benefit from the dividends of the African free trade area". Yao Guimei, a researcher at the West Asia and Africa Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the South African Research Center, believes that the African free trade area is expected to release the growth of multi field and multi industry linkage development. Many African countries not only regard infrastructure as a priority area for economic revitalization, but also vigorously expand new fields such as mobile communication, digital economy, clean energy and smart city, which will bring new opportunities for China Africa cooperation. Yao Guimei said that in the context of the epidemic, Chinese enterprises share digital technology with African countries, support the experience of "cloud anti epidemic" and develop "cloud economy". Cooperation in new formats such as various digital cooperation platforms, online promotion conferences and live delivery are booming, effectively supporting the docking of Chinese and African enterprises and driving the export of products with African characteristics to China. In the future, the digital economy is expected to become a new highlight of China Africa cooperation. (Xinhua News Agency)