China and Mauritius have agreed on a bilateral free trade agreement. The FTA covers a wide range of areas including trade in goods and services, investment and economic cooperation. This is China's first bilateral free trade agreement with an African country. China is open to signing more free trade agreements with African countries.

The China-proposed Belt and Road (B&R) initiative requires unimpeded trade and financial integration of countries on the B&R routes. The China-Mauritius FTA will establish the regime and clear obstacles in the way of those goals.

Mauritius is a fairly developed country, but its economic structure is relatively simple. An FTA with China will not just attract more Chinese tourists to the country but also attract more investment to boost its economy. And Mauritius is keen on attracting Chinese investment. At present, China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in Africa. China's increasing investment in Mauritius will drive the development of the African state and will help it establish logistics transit centers and industrial parks.

Mauritius is a country which can boast of having one of the best infrastructures in Africa. It has a population of 1.2 million with the main languages being English, French and Creole.