A digital trade hub was recently established in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, to boost small commodity trade between the African country and Yiwu in Zhejiang province.

The hub, built by Zhejiang China Commodities City Group, Alibaba Group and DPworld, the world's largest port company based in Dubai, is designed to be an important logistics center for the export of Yiwu's small commodities to East African countries, simplifying trade procedures and reducing costs.

The hub is under the auspices of the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an initiative proposed by Alibaba in 2016 to facilitate cross-border trade among small and medium-sized enterprises with the aid of payments and logistical technologies.

Rwanda is the first African country to launch the platform, while Yiwu is the first Chinese city to do so.

Yiwu also signed an agreement with Alibaba on June 19 to set up the eWTP global innovation center in the city.

Yiwu has enjoyed increasingly frequent trade with Africa in recent years, and the continent has become one of its most important export destinations.

More and more African businessmen are going to Yiwu to buy goods and start their own companies.

China's massive consumer market has presented African products with many business opportunities. More than 5,000 African products are being sold in the Yiwu China Imported Commodities Mall, such as handicrafts and jewelry.

Statistics from Yiwu Customs show that Yiwu's trade with Africa totaled 50.26 billion yuan ($7.12 billion) in the first three quarters of the year, up 10.6 percent year-on-year and accounting for 23.2 percent of the city's total foreign trade during the period.