Disneyland, Shanghai?

Victory for Disney! After 20 years of negotiations, the Walt Disney Company¹s dream of creating a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai was approved by the Chinese government. The Shanghai Disneyland will apparently occupy 1,000 acres of Shanghai¹s Pudong district. The initial park (excluding hotels and resort infrastructure) is predicted to cost around $3.5 billion; that will make the theme park one of the largest foreign investments ever in China. The New York Times reports that the measure is an attempt to boost the Disney brand among China¹s 1.3 billion residents. Currently, Chinese limits on foreign media have preventing the Disney TV channel from transmitting many of its programs in the country. Movies have also been restricted, since only 20 non-Chinese films are shown in the country each year. For these reasons, Disney has had trouble reaching the Chinese market. But given that Disney World in Florida attracts 45 million visitors each year, that might soon change.

New York Times