The Eden Garden Culture & Entertainment Square in Mauritius

Jinfei Smart City is one of the most ambitious and controversial development projects ever launched in Mauritius.

Located near Riche Terre and Port Louis, it began around 2007–2008 as a major China-backed economic and trade zone designed to turn Mauritius into a gateway between China and Africa.

The original vision included a futuristic smart city with offices, hotels, residential areas, shopping, logistics, entertainment, finance, and high-tech infrastructure.

China viewed Mauritius as strategically valuable because of its political stability, financial sector, tax treaties, and location in the Indian Ocean. 

The project was promoted as a transformational economic hub that would attract billions in investment and thousands of jobs. However, development progressed far slower than promised, and over time Jinfei gained a reputation as a “ghost city” or “unfinished mega-project.”

While roads, infrastructure, and some major buildings were constructed, large sections of the development remained empty or underutilized for years.

The most visually striking part of the project is the Eden Garden Culture & Entertainment Square. This futuristic glass-and-steel complex was designed as the entertainment centerpiece of Jinfei, featuring large event halls, restaurants, conference space, fountains, plazas, and luxury entertainment facilities.

At night, the illuminated building and water features were intended to symbolize modern Mauritius–China cooperation and create a world-class destination venue. 

But in reality, many visitors today describe Eden Garden as feeling strangely abandoned. Despite its impressive architecture, the surrounding area often appears quiet and empty, with oversized roads, vast open spaces, and very little visible commercial activity.

While occasional weddings, exhibitions, and events still take place there, the complex never seems to have achieved the vibrant atmosphere originally envisioned. Several local observers and media reports have described parts of Jinfei as resembling a “ghost town.” 

One factor that reportedly hurt the project was political and financial turmoil involving some of the original Chinese companies behind the development, including corruption investigations in China that disrupted momentum and financing.

Today, Jinfei feels less like a fully functioning smart city and more like a partially completed geopolitical experiment: a mix of strategic Chinese influence, oversized ambition, incomplete execution, and long-term positioning in the Indian Ocean.

Yet despite its setbacks, the project has never been fully abandoned, and there are ongoing discussions about restructuring and reviving parts of it in the future.