A ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Mauritius is held on April 15 in the Jinfei Economic Trade and Cooperation Zone, located in the island nation. [Photo/shanxi.gov.cn]

A ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mauritius was held on April 15 in the Jinfei Economic Trade and Cooperation Zone in Mauritius, and North China's Shanxi province had a key role to play in the event.

Chinese Ambassador to Mauritius Zhu Liying and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth jointly unveiled a commemorative plaque for the anniversary and delivered speeches.

Officials of Mauritius, the representatives of Chinese-funded enterprises in the zone and overseas Chinese in the country attended the event.

Jugnauth said Mauritius and China worked well together in the fields of commerce, technology and culture. Moreover, Mauritius is willing to further strengthen its exchanges in various fields and to promote the continuous development of bilateral relations.

Zhu said in his speech that since the establishment of diplomatic relations on April 15 in 1972, China and Mauritius have respected and treated each other as equals. They have jointly promoted the continuous development of bilateral and friendly relations, becoming a model of economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.

In recent years, more Chinese companies have gone to Mauritius to invest there and start up businesses, participating in the construction of key projects on the island nation and expanding commerce to the nearby African continent.

Zhu emphasized that as a flagship project of cooperation between China and Mauritius, the Jinfei Economic Trade and Cooperation Zone is very attractive to foreign investment in the fields of warehousing and logistics, cultural tourism, education, finance, medicine, exhibition and conventions. 

He said it would continue to make great achievements in overseas warehousing, electric vehicles and new energy industry projects. 

He urged the governments of China and Mauritius to further promote the vigorous development of the zone.

Attendees of the ceremony pose for a group photo, on April 15. [Photo/shanxi.gov.cn]

The 211-hectare Jinfei Economic Trade and Cooperation Zone – first overseas special economic zone partially funded and constructed by Shanxi province – is located in Riche Terre, 3.5 kilometers away from the country's capital city of Port Louis.

After 16 years of development, it has attracted dozens of companies, with the proportion of the international companies exceeding 80 percent. Its intelligent operation and management system, based on big data and the internet of things technologies, has been serving communications between China and Mauritius for years.

In the future, with the strong support of Shanxi's authorities, the zone is expected to transform into a trade and logistics zone. It will also develop its commerce, logistics, cultural tourism and financial services – contributing to China's Belt and Road Initiative development and Shanxi's opening-up.

The zone is also expected to help develop intelligent city projects, in accordance with the government of Mauritius.