China Okays Disney Theme Park
After 10 years of negotiations surrounding the likelihood of a Disney theme park in China, The Magic Kingdom has finally been given the permission to set up shop in the country.
In Beijing earlier today, Communist Party officials finally ended years of speculation by approving Disney’s long-awaited first amusement park to be built in mainland China.
The announcement comes less than 14 days prior to US President Barack Obama’s first official visit to China, which is scheduled to begin on November 15 in Shanghai.
The announcement follows 10 years of seesawing negotiations between the Shanghai authorities and Disney which showed the difficulties which foreign media companies face when trying to gain a foothold in the country in order to reach 1.3 billion Chinese.
Such entertainment ventures have become particularly attractive thanks to rising incomes in China as wealthier families search for new ways to pamper their kids, most of them born under China’s policy of “one couple, one child”.
Walt Disney officials said The Project Application Report (PAR) for a new theme park in Shanghai has been awarded approval from the central government of China authorities. The theme park will be built in the Pudong district of the city.
Pudong is Shanghai’s new business heart where several skyscrapers have risen in the last decade alongside a multitude of apartment complexes. A Disney theme park would certainly contribute to inject life into this rather soulless ocean of offices and shopping malls and may even rekindle the fortunes of Shanghai which is facing tough competition from several other urban centres in China.
No budget or schedule for the theme park construction has been revealed. But when speculations of an agreement spread this week, the US entertainment giant was said to be investing $US3.6 billion for a 10-square-kilometre theme park.