The China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, better known as CAET Expo, is China’s only state-level platform dedicated to commercial cooperation with Africa. Organised by the Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Hunan Province, the 4th edition will be staged in Changsha from 27-29 June 2024, combining a 50,000 m² physical exhibition with an evergreen digital showroom. More than 1,500 Chinese and African enterprises have already registered, together with ministers, governors, heads of chambers of commerce and senior officials from over 30 African countries, the African Union Commission, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the African Development Bank. The programme is built around three tracks: “Trade and Agriculture”, “Industry and Supply Chain” and “Innovation and Finance”. Highlights include the China-Africa Green Industry Forum, where CEOs of Chinese energy giants and African power utilities debate renewable projects; the Africa Specialty Products Promotion Week that matches coffee, cocoa and sesame exporters with Chinese importers; and the China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lounge that hosts a pitch contest for start-ups in fintech, e-commerce and ag-tech. Plenary panels will discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area, digital currency cross-border settlements, and the localisation of Chinese manufacturing in African special economic zones. A new feature is the “African Products Experience Zone”, where visitors can taste wine from South Africa, tea from Kenya and shea butter cosmetics from Ghana while scanning QR codes for direct procurement. Parallel to the expo, Hunan will release the 2024 Blue Book on China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation and sign memoranda covering lithium battery plants in Zimbabwe, a cashew processing park in Côte d’Ivoire and a photovoltaic assembly base in Nigeria. Academic partners such as the China-Africa Institute and the University of Johannesburg will run policy hackathons, and the concluding ceremony will announce the top ten China-Africa trade facilitation cases, offering replicable models for customs clearance, inspection and logistics. The entire event is bilingual Chinese-English, free of charge upon online pre-registration, and will be streamed on dedicated WeChat mini-programs and YouTube channels with simultaneous interpretation.