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Universal set for Shanghai funpark
HONG KONG, China -- Universal Studios plans an $870 million amusement park in Shanghai, according to a report. The park could open as early as 2006, and Universal will announce it on Saturday in California, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fun park will span a two-square-kilometer patch in Shanghai's booming Pudong development area, the Journal said, citing an official at one of Universal's two Chinese partners. The move comes after months of negotiations. Walt Disney Co. is also in talks to build a park in Shanghai, a move that comes as a slap in the face to officials in Hong Kong. (Full story) Disney is already constructing a Disneyland on 310 acres near the Hong Kong airport. That park is due to open in 2005. The Hong Kong government awarded Disney hefty incentives to come to Hong Kong, counting on a HK$148 billion ($19 billion) boom in tourism, particularly from China. But the company did not sign an exclusivity agreement, meaning it can also build copycat parks in the mainland. Less than $100 millionUniversal is expected to invest less than $100 million on the Shanghai park. It has partnered with the logistics company Waigaoqiao Group and developer Shanghai Jinjiang Holding Co., which will together own a majority stake in the project. Universal would retain around one-third of the project and supervise its operation. Word of the park comes amid a development boom in Shanghai. Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai Properties said this week it will spend HK$8 billion ($1 billion) to develop a project in Pudong. (Full story) That came in the same week another Hong Kong developer, HKR International, committed 4 billion yuan ($483 million) to redevelop an area nearby into hotel, office, retail and apartment space. (Full story) Shanghai's economy is growing at 11 percent this year, faster even than the country's impressive clip of around 8 percent. This week it won the right to host the 2010 World Expo. (Full story) Universal is also in discussions to build a park in Beijing.
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