Disney to submit Shanghai park plans to Beijing

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-12 15:16

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. [Agencies]

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.