Dalian Haichang Group signed a 3 billion yuan ($441million) contract with the Administrative Committee of Dalian Bonded Area on August 8 to build an auto theme park in the port city of Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning province.

This park plans to be the largest auto theme park in China after completion of the first stage in two years. The whole park will take six years of construction, covering 1,200,000 sqm.

Lu Lin, director of the administrative committee, said only manufacturing autos is not enough for a complete and encompassing auto industry. In the past several years, the bonded area has framed a basic auto industrial system. A real auto industry includes auto financing, auto tourism, auto culture and auto service as complements to auto manufacturing. Lu Lin expected this auto theme park to be an important link in auto industrial chain.

The Dalian auto theme park will be another landmark attraction after Dalian Polar Ocean World and Discovery Kingdom.

By Guo Changdong & Ren Ruqin