Disney gets China's backing for Shanghai park (Roundup)

Nov 4, 2009, 9:32 GMT

   Beijing - Chinese authorities gave their backing to the Walt Disney Co to build one of its theme parks in Shanghai, city officials and the company said Wednesday.

   The municipal government announced that the Shanghai Disneyland project has received approval by the central government in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said.

   'China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone for the Walt Disney Co in mainland China,' Disney chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement.

   Talks have started on details of the project, which is to be located in the city's eastern Pudong New District. The project has been in planning for more than a decade, and it was expected to take another four or five years before an initial stage was finalized, Xinhua said.

   Estimated costs for Shanghai Disneyland were about 3.66 billion dollars. Several state-run companies are to form a joint venture with Disney to realize the project.

   The decision came two weeks before US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Shanghai and Beijing.

   In January, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, told media that the city and Disney had reached an agreement on major issues concerning the amusement park, the first on China's mainland. A Disney spokeswoman in Hong Kong did not confirm Chinese media reports that it was also to be the largest.

   Beijing's approval opens the way for detailed planning for 'one of the best Disneylands on earth,' the Shanghai city government said.

   The theme park, complete with hotel and shopping facilities, is to be constructed in a 7-square-kilometre area between Pudong international airport and Shanghai's city limits.

   Disney already operates one theme park in Hong Kong and the new project is regarded as an important foothold for the growing mainland Chinese market.

   The Shanghai park was expected to affect business in Hong Kong, where attendance at its Disney park has remained below expectations since its 2005 opening, but Hong Kong officials stressed that they did not regard the new park as competition.

   Shanghai Disneyland would attract visitors from other regions of China, they said. About 300 million people live in day-tripping distance from Shanghai.

   News of the Shanghai park came two months after Hong Kong Disneyland announced plans to expand with three new themed areas, including one with rides based on the Toy Story films, at a cost of 3.63 billion Hong Kong dollars (465.4 million dollars).

   Hong Kong Commissioner for Tourism Margaret Fong said she believed the Shanghai park would not affect Hong Kong Disneyland, which would remain competitive with the planned expansion making it unique and attractive to visitors from mainland China.

   'The three new theme lands will either be exclusive worldwide or exclusive to Asia and, therefore, we believe the appeal will continue to be there,' Fong said.

   However, Democratic Party vice chairwoman Emily Lau said the Shanghai park was bad news for Hong Kong.

   'The original decision to put the theme park here was a big mistake,' Lau said on government radio RTHK. 'We [the government] have committed tens of billions of dollars and now I just don't know how we will recoup that money.'

   Disney operates six theme parts, three of them outside the United States - in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris.

   Residents from several villages have to be resettled for the Shanghai project. Over the past weeks, authorities held talks on the issue with about 4,000 residents, Chinese media said.