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70 percent of theme parks in the red
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-10 16:32

According to a latest survey by the Horizon Group, one of China's leading strategic research and consultancy, China has invested about 150 billion yuan (US$ 22 billion) in 2,500 theme parks across the country. 70 percent of them are in the red now, and only 10 percent have paid back their initial investments.

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Guangzhou's Grand World Scenic Park has closed, Guangzhou Daily reported on Monday.

The close of Guangzhou's Grand World Scenic Park signifies the end of the county's first generation theme parks era, the Guangzhou Daily said, predicting that they will be replaced with other, so-called second generation parks. The paper cited Shanghai's plan to construct a Disney theme park and Zhejiang's plan to rebuild Yuanmingyuan, or the old Summer Palace, among others, as examples.

"The theme-park industry hasn't got to a dead end; on the contrary, it's just taking off in China, and it's going to be a promising industry if distinctive features and innovation are added to it," Liu Wei, a professor from Guangdong University of Finance said.