CHANGSHA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Online China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo was officially launched Wednesday in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

The online expo, Kili. co, provides a platform for cooperation and mutual exchange, showcasing tens of millions of commodities to make bilateral trade easier.

Kili. co is expected to serve nearly 500 million China and Africa customers as well as 1 million enterprises in the next five years, according to the operator, Kilimall International Limited.

The bilateral e-commerce platform is an upgrade of Kilimall, an African e-commerce platform now headquartered in Changsha, consisting of four e-commerce platforms and five infrastructures.

Among them, KiliSupply and KiliSelect are selling African products to China, and Kilimall and KiliBusiness are helping Africans reduce costs.

"With a few clicks on the Kilimall website, African consumers can buy more than 10 million different products online, including electronics, fashion and home appliances," said Yang Tao, CEO of Kilimall International Limited.

African companies can also buy products in bulk from China through the B2B platform KiliBusiness, such as manufacturing machinery, industrial equipment, lighting and building materials, he added.

Meanwhile, Kili. co infrastructures facilitate payments, logistics, warehousing and marketing between Africa and China.

Kili. co has recruited hundreds of young graduates in Africa for technology and business empowerment to operate its services.

The platform is part of the first China-African Economic and Trade Expo to be held from June 27 to 29.

A total of 53 African countries have confirmed their attendance at the inaugural expo, which was established under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as a new mechanism for economic and trade cooperation between China and African countries.