The trilateral cooperation in Africa involving China has gone through three phases and now its development is promising because of the Belt and Road Initiative（BRI）which adheres to the principles of “extensive consultation，joint contribution，shared benefits”. The third-party market cooperation under BRI and the triangular development cooperation under the globe development system are two emerging cooperation methods in recent years，and they are often referred to the same expression：trilateral cooperation. It should be pointed out that third-party market cooperation is economic cooperation，and triangular cooperation is development cooperation led by international organizations or national governments. We argue that third-party market cooperation and triangular development cooperation under the framework of BRI have a development-market nexus. China-France-Africa trilateral cooperation under BRI provides case studies. The concepts and practices of Africa-China-France trilateral cooperation illustrate that third-party market cooperation need to be enforced and triangular development cooperation need to be implemented in the future.