Chinese overseas lending / MUS
Mauritius: debt owed to China
In 2021, Mauritius is estimated to have owed China $297m, equal to 2.6% of its GDP, which ranks it 91 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $540m in 2019.
The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021
The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2021, when it fell by $144m.
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Mauritius, by year and instrument, 2000 to 2021. Zeros are estimated zeros (no known loans outstanding), not missing values. Methodology
Historical loan records from the 2021 release
These records come from the 2021 HRT Mendeley replication release, not the November 2025 refreshed stock panel charted above. The refresh uses the updated Franz, Horn, Parks, Reinhart and Trebesch methodology, so this table cannot be reconciled to the chart. The earlier release marks 17 loan-level records for Mauritius as part of its debt-estimate sample, spanning 2000 to 2014. Comparable commitments are available for 17 of those loans and sum to $468m. These are gross commitments, not outstanding debt stocks. The stock methodology applies disbursement and amortisation profiles, with imputation where loan terms are missing, so the commitment sum must not be compared with the stock above. See the methodology. Terms are sparse by source: interest rate appears on 17 loans, grace period on 10, maturity on 12, any of the three on 17, and all three together on 10. The earlier file also carries 28 additional project rows for Mauritius outside that sample, so they are not included in this table.
| Year | Project | Commitment, USD | Commitment, source currency | Terms | Creditor | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Economic and Technical cooperation ID: MUS_43 · Source: JH CARI | $8.00m | n/a | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2013 | Mauritius receives 50 million RMB interest-free loan from China ID: MUS_42 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $8.07m | RMB 50,000,000 | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2011 | China designates 580 million RMB of Exim loan for Bagatelle Dam Project ID: MUS_38 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $73m | RMB 580,000,000 | rate 2% | grace 10y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2011 | Economic and Trade cooperation ID: MUS_39 · Source: JH CARI | $3.00m | n/a | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2009 | Exim bank loans $260 mil for the expansion of the SSR Airport terminal ID: MUS_33 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $260m | USD 260,000,000 | rate 2% | grace n/a | maturity 15y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2009 | China provides interest-free loan for law enforcement technology ID: MUS_31 · Source: AidData | $8.45m | MUR 270,000,000 | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2009 | Victoria Hospital New Operation Theatre - Loan 1 ID: MUS_34 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $6.00m | n/a | rate 0% | grace 6y | maturity 16y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2009 | Victoria Hospital New Operation Theatre - Loan 2 ID: MUS_35 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $4.00m | n/a | rate 0% | grace 7y | maturity 17y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2006 | China issues second loan for Plaines Wilhelms Sewage Project Construction ID: MUS_25 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $28m | RMB 220,000,000 | rate 3% | grace 10y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2006 | China loans Mauritius 100 million CNY as part of large construction package ID: MUS_27 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $13m | RMB 100,000,000 | rate 0% | grace 11y | maturity 21y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2006 | China loans 70 million to Mauritius for MBC headquarters ID: MUS_26 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $2.21m | MUR 70,000,000 | rate 0% | grace 11y | maturity 21y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2005 | China provides third interest-free loan for MBC Headquarters ID: MUS_23 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $5.09m | MUR 150,000,000 | rate 0% | grace 11y | maturity 21y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2004 | China provides second interest-free loan for MBC Headquarters ID: MUS_21 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $2.42m | RMB 20,000,000 | rate 0% | grace 11y | maturity 21y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2003 | China provides interest-free loan for Plaza Theatre in Mauritius ID: MUS_17 · Source: AidData | $16m | MUR 457,000,000 | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2002 | China issues 100 million CNY Concessional Loans for Housing Project in Mauritius ID: MUS_15 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $12m | RMB 100,000,000 | rate 4% | grace 4y | maturity 12y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2001 | China loans Mauritius 20 million CNY for MBC construction ID: MUS_13 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $2.42m | RMB 20,000,000 | rate 0% | grace 11y | maturity 21y | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2000 | China issues First Loan for Plaines Wilhelms Sewage Project Construction in Mauritius ID: MUS_11 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $17m | MUR 450,000,000 | rate 3% | grace n/a | maturity 15y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (2021 Mendeley replication loan file). Selection: 2021 replication loan records mapped to Mauritius and flagged DebtEstimateSample = 1 in that release. This is an earlier source universe, not the records used for the November 2025 refreshed stock panel. CommitmentUSD is a gross commitment flow and is not comparable to the charted stock. Commitment stays in its source currency, and ProjectDescription is rendered as free-text data from the file. Methodology
Against what Mauritius reports owing to all creditors
Mauritius reported $14.70bn of total external debt to all creditors in 2021, of which $2.83bn is public and publicly guaranteed. The China estimate is 2.0% of the reported external total and 9.9% of the reported public and guaranteed stock. These are ratios of two different measurements, one estimated and one borrower-reported, and they are not a share of a single consistent total.
| Measure, 2021 | Estimated, owed China | Reported, all creditors | Ratio, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total external debt | $297m | $14.70bn | 2.0% |
| Public and publicly guaranteed | $280m | $2.83bn | 9.9% |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (estimated stocks), and World Bank International Debt Statistics, borrower-reported via the Debtor Reporting System (all-creditor stocks). Selection: estimated external and PPG stock owed to China in 2021 against Mauritius's reported DT.DOD.DECT.CD and DT.DOD.DPPG.CD for the same year. Drawn swap balances are excluded from the estimated column: they are a central-bank liability the Debtor Reporting System's long-term-debt concepts do not carry. Methodology