The rise of China: a new fear of trade competition for Mauritius?
Purpose – The relationship between China and Mauritius dates back centuries due to the Chinese diaspora in Mauritius. The rise of China in the global economy has raised several questions. China is investing massively in several nations. The question remains whether it is for mutual benefits or the Chinese quest for world dominance. China is the second top importing partner of Mauritius. However, the main export destinations of Mauritius remain Europe and the USA. The purpose of this paper is to address the impact of the emergence of China on the Mauritian economy.Design/methodology/approach – In order to assess the short‐term costs stemming from Chinese competition, the authors have built two indexes of trade competition. The aim of these indexes is to compare the exporting structure of China with Mauritius in a particular period of time. If the exporting structure between two countries is quite similar, then trade competition is more likely. These indexes are built using the Comtrade database. The indexe...