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Monday, 12 January 2009
Disney to Submit Shanghai Park Plans to Beijing
The Walt Disney Co. entertainment giant said Monday it is preparing to submit plans to Beijing to build a theme park in Shanghai, but stressed no deal had been agreed with the Chinese government.
SHANGHAI -- The Walt Disney Co. entertainment giant said Monday it is preparing to submit plans to Beijing to build a theme park in Shanghai, but stressed no deal had been agreed with the Chinese government.
Disney’s cartoon characters perform with lion dancers at Hong Kong Disneyland to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year in this January 29, 2006 file photo. The Walt Disney Co. entertainment giant said Monday it is preparing to submit plans to the Chinese government to build a theme park in Shanghai, but stressed no deal had been agreed with Beijing.
After months of denying media reports that a deal was imminent, Disney acknowledged it had worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai municipal government, but said it was still in the proposal stages.
“No deal has been agreed to, no project has been approved,” Disney spokeswoman Leslie Goodman said in an e-mailed statement.
Disney has been in talks with Chinese officials for a decade about building a theme park in China’s economic hub and largest city.
“As part of this lengthy process, we worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review,” Goodman said.
Disney declined to say whether the application had been completed or when it might be submitted to the central government.
Previous media reports had said the proposed park could be built on a 10-square-kilometre (3.9-square-mile) site near Shanghai’s Pudong airport.
Beijing would provide the land in exchange for a stake in the park, but Disney would manage the facility, according to previous media reports.
The reports said Disney’s Shanghai theme park could be eight times the size of its park in Hong Kong, which is 57-percent government owned.
US$3.59b Shanghai theme park to open in 2014, reports say
12 January 2009
The Walt Disney Co said last Friday that it would submit plans to build its first theme park in mainland China, targeting one of the largest and increasingly affluent markets in Asia.
The entertainment giant released a statement confirming its plans, as news broke that Disney was working with the Shanghai municipal government to build a US$3.59 billion park to open as early as 2014. It would be Disney’s fourth theme park outside the US, after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
A Disney spokeswoman portrayed the development as a milestone in a lengthy review process, which ultimately needs to be negotiated and approved by the central government. But no deal is in place, and the project is yet to be approved.
‘Discussions have been ongoing about the feasibility of a theme park project in China,’ said Leslie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. ‘We worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review.’
The Shanghai Securities News, which is affiliated to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, reported earlier this week that Disney had concluded negotiations on building a theme park in Shanghai - a report that the company denied. The news organisation, citing an unidentified expert carrying out a feasibility study on the project, predicted that an announcement would be made soon.
Kang Fuxiang, chief of Qigan village near Shanghai’s Pudong airport, where the park would be built, said last Friday that he was told by local city officials that a project deal was signed last week that included basic terms. Although the first phase would cost about US$3.5 billion, Mr. Kang said that he understood that the total project investment would exceed US$5 billion.
‘Of course, this is great news,’ he said. ‘We’ve been waiting for many years.’ He said that he was told that relocation of villagers would likely begin in the first half of this year, so that construction can begin in the largely wooded and farm lands.
The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday that Disney and the Shanghai government signed a proposal outlining the legal and financial framework for a theme park. Disney would take a 43 per cent equity stake in Shanghai Disneyland, while a joint venture holding company owned by the local government would own the majority 57 per cent, the newspaper reported. The first phase, to be built on about one square mile, would include a theme park, hotel and shopping district, costing US$3.59 billion and constructed over six years on a site near Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, the newspaper reported.
A Disney spokeswoman refused to provide a copy of the plans or to confirm the terms.
Chinese officials and Disney have discussed ideas for a theme park at the eastern fringes of Shanghai for more than a decade. Speculation has intensified recently, fanned by Chinese media reports that Disney and Shanghai officials had come to terms. Some Chinese were so confident that they have loaded up on shares of companies with interests in this part of the Pudong district where a theme park would most likely be built.
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Disney to Submit Shanghai Park Plans to Beijing
12 January 2009
SHANGHAI -- The Walt Disney Co. entertainment giant said Monday it is preparing to submit plans to Beijing to build a theme park in Shanghai, but stressed no deal had been agreed with the Chinese government.
Disney’s cartoon characters perform with lion dancers at Hong Kong Disneyland to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year in this January 29, 2006 file photo. The Walt Disney Co. entertainment giant said Monday it is preparing to submit plans to the Chinese government to build a theme park in Shanghai, but stressed no deal had been agreed with Beijing.
After months of denying media reports that a deal was imminent, Disney acknowledged it had worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai municipal government, but said it was still in the proposal stages.
“No deal has been agreed to, no project has been approved,” Disney spokeswoman Leslie Goodman said in an e-mailed statement.
Disney has been in talks with Chinese officials for a decade about building a theme park in China’s economic hub and largest city.
“As part of this lengthy process, we worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review,” Goodman said.
Disney declined to say whether the application had been completed or when it might be submitted to the central government.
Previous media reports had said the proposed park could be built on a 10-square-kilometre (3.9-square-mile) site near Shanghai’s Pudong airport.
Beijing would provide the land in exchange for a stake in the park, but Disney would manage the facility, according to previous media reports.
The reports said Disney’s Shanghai theme park could be eight times the size of its park in Hong Kong, which is 57-percent government owned.
Disney to Submit Plans for China Park
US$3.59b Shanghai theme park to open in 2014, reports say
12 January 2009
The Walt Disney Co said last Friday that it would submit plans to build its first theme park in mainland China, targeting one of the largest and increasingly affluent markets in Asia.
The entertainment giant released a statement confirming its plans, as news broke that Disney was working with the Shanghai municipal government to build a US$3.59 billion park to open as early as 2014. It would be Disney’s fourth theme park outside the US, after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
A Disney spokeswoman portrayed the development as a milestone in a lengthy review process, which ultimately needs to be negotiated and approved by the central government. But no deal is in place, and the project is yet to be approved.
‘Discussions have been ongoing about the feasibility of a theme park project in China,’ said Leslie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. ‘We worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review.’
The Shanghai Securities News, which is affiliated to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, reported earlier this week that Disney had concluded negotiations on building a theme park in Shanghai - a report that the company denied. The news organisation, citing an unidentified expert carrying out a feasibility study on the project, predicted that an announcement would be made soon.
Kang Fuxiang, chief of Qigan village near Shanghai’s Pudong airport, where the park would be built, said last Friday that he was told by local city officials that a project deal was signed last week that included basic terms. Although the first phase would cost about US$3.5 billion, Mr. Kang said that he understood that the total project investment would exceed US$5 billion.
‘Of course, this is great news,’ he said. ‘We’ve been waiting for many years.’ He said that he was told that relocation of villagers would likely begin in the first half of this year, so that construction can begin in the largely wooded and farm lands.
The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday that Disney and the Shanghai government signed a proposal outlining the legal and financial framework for a theme park. Disney would take a 43 per cent equity stake in Shanghai Disneyland, while a joint venture holding company owned by the local government would own the majority 57 per cent, the newspaper reported. The first phase, to be built on about one square mile, would include a theme park, hotel and shopping district, costing US$3.59 billion and constructed over six years on a site near Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, the newspaper reported.
A Disney spokeswoman refused to provide a copy of the plans or to confirm the terms.
Chinese officials and Disney have discussed ideas for a theme park at the eastern fringes of Shanghai for more than a decade. Speculation has intensified recently, fanned by Chinese media reports that Disney and Shanghai officials had come to terms. Some Chinese were so confident that they have loaded up on shares of companies with interests in this part of the Pudong district where a theme park would most likely be built.
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