Shanghai Disneyland
SHANGHAI, March, 2008 — US-based Walt Disney Company has decided to build a Disneyland at Chuansha town, Pudong, Shanghai, expected to be announced around the period for the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, according to reliable news. Shanghai mayor Han Zheng once said that the city, having the ability to build a Disneyland, was preparing for the construction and waiting for approval from the State Council, China’s cabinet.
Shanghai Current Economics Research Institute head Wang Liang said that the location of Disney had started to influence the city’s every aspect, such as stock market, real estate, tourism and retail business. For instance, Disney concept stocks, Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development Co., Ltd. (SHSE: 600663), Shanghai Jielong Industry Group Corporation Limited (SHSE: 600836), Shanghai Pudong Road & Bridge Construction Company Limited (SHSE: 600284) and Shanghai Construction Co., Ltd. (SHSE: 600170) kept rising from middle February when the whole stock market was down.
Moreover, all houses at a building under construction, which nears Disney Shanghai theme park, have been sold out. An insider pointed out that the to-be-built Disneyland, a large tourism project able to accept customers to stay for two nights, would double the Shanghai tourism industry’s current revenue, which was good for China’s domestic tourism in spite of a certain impact on Hong Kong Disneyland.
As early as five years ago, rumors reported that the Walt Disney Company was to build a Disneyland in Shanghai, the nation’s financial hub, with acreage three times that of Disneyland Hong Kong. Until March 9, 2008, an insider told journalists that the Chinese watchdog had in principle agreed the foreign giant to locate the Disneyland in Shanghai. In addition, subways and light rails to the Chuansha town will be available in 2009 and so did the related supporting facilities around.
As a matter of fact, China’s other large cities, like Beijing, Chengdu and Tianjin have also gotten into a fierce struggle in hopes of locating the Disneyland there, which is expected to boost a city’s economy and industry to a new high, said Zhu Lianqing, director at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences research center.