Walt Disney Co is negotiating with Shanghai authorities about
building a theme park on Chongming Island, a person with inside
information confirmed with Shanghai Daily today.
Former reports said the park would be built in the Chuansha area
of Pudong.
A well-informed source told the newspaper China Business that
the central government approved the plan after the Special Olympic
Games and that construction would begin after World Expo 2010.
"Disney will increase the investment by 10 billion yuan (US$1.36
billion) to 40 billion yuan and the location may be changed to
Chongming from Pudong," the source told China Business.
It will be the second theme park in China for Disney, the
world's largest theme park operator. The other is in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government formed a
joint venture with Walt Disney to build a US$3.5-billion theme park
that opened on September 12 in 2005.
However, lower attendance and guest spending at the park made
the park fail to meet performance targets set by its lenders, which
relate to a US$294 million loan and a line of credit that hasn't
been used.
The Hong Kong park drew 5.2 million visitors in the 12 months
following its September 2005 opening, fewer than the 5.6 million
forecast. Disney holds 43 percent of Hong Kong International Theme
Parks Ltd, which owns the facility.
The company told Shanghai Daily last year that if it was to
reach an agreement for a second park in China, it would not open
before 2010 as the Hong Kong government feared a Shanghai park
would take tourists away from the SAR.
Chongming is at the mouth of the Yangtze River and covers an
area of 1,200 square kilometers.
(Shanghai Daily December 4, 2007)