The pandemic has been hurting trade across the globe, but it has also spurred new ways of conducting business and led to the further utilization of digital technologies in major and developing economies.

The latest such event to utilize this technology, the China-Central and Western Africa International Trade Digital Expo, takes place from June 23 to July 2.

It will focus on trade promotion between China and Central and Western Africa, and is supported by technology from Tencent.

More than 1,000 enterprises and 10,000 participants from China and Africa are expected to share ideas and business opportunities on a cloud platform during the event.

The digital expo will cover sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, construction and building materials, wholesale and retail, transportation and infrastructure.

The event follows the China-Central& Eastern Africa (Kenya) International Trade Digital Expo, which was held online last year.

This year's expo is sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, in cooperation with the China-Africa Development Fund, and is organized by the China International Exhibition Center Group Corporation, a subsidiary of the council.

The council has successively innovated the exhibition services platform and digital expos have emerged as a new platform, according to Sun Ying, deputy department manager of CIEC Overseas Exhibition Co, Ltd.

Given the current COVID-19 situation, the epidemic prevention industry is also set to be one of the highlights of the virtual expo, helping to meet the needs of Africa.

Similarly, more than 20 African companies have uploaded their agricultural products on the virtual platform to get closer to new target markets. The event's organizers will arrange six customized virtual business-to-business meetings for participants.

The council is committed to actively cooperating with related African government departments, business associations and institutions, in order to jointly build important economic and trade platforms such as the China-Africa Entrepreneurs' Conference and the China-Africa Industrial Capacity Cooperation Expo, Sun said.