Shanghai Disneyland project spurs market

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-03 10:12

SHANGHAI: Local stocks of real estate, building materials and logistics performed well on Monday, one day after Shanghai mayor said a press conference would be held in near future to announce the latest development of the long-waited Disneyland project in the city.

Stocks of Jielong Group, a leading printing enterprise in the country, gained 10.01 percent on Monday at the news. Analysts attributed the surge to the company's extensive land property around the possible site of the theme park.

Cimic, a manufacture of porcelain and ceramic tiles based in Shanghai, saw its stock surge 10 percent. The company was widely believed to be one of the building material providers for the Shanghai Disneyland.

Almost all stocks of tourism, catering industry and construction companies in Shanghai have seen drastic increase in prices on Monday.

But some analysts warned that the Disneyland project was still up in the air and the uncertainties would thus lead to risks.

"As long as the project is not announced, every speculative investment would be dangerous and may bring losses to investors," said Yu Haifeng, an analyst with Debang Securities.

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said at a press conference on Sunday that there would be an announcement later this week. But he declined to confirm whether the plan had received final approval from the State Council.

"What I can say now is that a press conference will be held to announce the details of the project," Han said. He said it would probably be this week.

Sources told Xinhua that there would be four to five years before the amusement park took an initial scale after it was approved.

The Shanghai side were expected to form a joint venture with Walt Disney Co. to handle the investment management of the project, the sources said.

The Shanghai municipal government and the Walt Disney Co. had reached an agreement concerning the major issues of building the first Disneyland on the Chinese mainland, Han told media in January.

The government has been in talks with Disney for more than a decade.

Earlier report said the park would be built in the southeast suburbs of Shanghai's Pudong area, which is 20 minutes' drive from the Pudong International Airport. The area of the new park was expected to be the largest among all Disney theme parks.