On February 22nd, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of MOFCOM and Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan met with Deputy Secretary of Hunan Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Hunan Province Xu Dazhe in Beijing and co-chaired the first work meeting of the organizing committee of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.

Nearly 30 member departments of the organizing committee, including the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Finance, attended the meeting. The meeting listened to the progress report on the preparations for the first expo, reviewed and approved relevant plans, and put forward specific requirements for the next step.

Establishing the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo is an important move of the "Eight Major Actions" announced by President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2018. Approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the first expo will be held in Changsha, Hunan Province on June 27-29, 2019 with the theme of "cooperation and mutual benefits, pragmatically advancing China-Africa economic and trade relations."