Walt Disney has been given approval to open a theme park in Shanghai — allowing the Magic Kingdom to thrive in the Middle Kingdom.

Communist Party mandarins have ended years of negotiations and suspense by allowing Disney to build its first park in mainland China.

The castles of Disneyland will be built on farmland at the edge of a soulless business centre of Shanghai, rising to join countless skyscrapers and apartment blocks, and a sea of offices and shopping malls.

The announcement comes less than two weeks before President Obama’s first official visit to China, beginning in Shanghai on November 15. It follows a decade of on-again, off-again negotiations between Disney and authorities that highlighted the difficulties faced by foreign media companies trying to gain access to China’s 1.3 billion population.

The regime has been wary of foreign influence in the sensitive sectors of media and popular culture.But rising incomes make such ventures particularly attractive as better-off families look for new ways to entertain themselves and their pampered only children — born under China’s “one couple, one child” policy.

Robert Iger, Disney’s president, said: “China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries, and this marks a very significant milestone for the Walt Disney Company.”

Although Shanghai is China’s richest city, less than two decades ago the business district, Pudong, was vegetable and paddy fields. The city is also facing tough competition from other areas and will welcome a boost from Mickey Mouse. With some 80 million people in the city and nearby areas, the park will have a regular supply of visitors.

State television quoted officials as saying that the park could open in 2014. No cost has been given for the project. When rumours of a deal began to spread this week, however,most reports put the price at $3.6 billion (£2.1 bn) for a park of about four square miles. This would be one of the biggest foreign investments in China.

Disney is one of the most active foreign entertainment companies in China, with more than 600 employees and retail outlets in at least 25 cities. Last year the company launched its first English learning centre in Shanghai, for children aged between 2 and 10. The new park would be Disney’s sixth — in Asia it already has a presence in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

A spokeswoman said: “From our point of view the Hong Kong and Shanghai parks are not competitors, they’re complementary. We believe the greater China market is big enough to support multiple parks.”

Disney has said that the Shanghai park will be a Magic Kingdom with Chinese characteristics — including Chinese food, a ban on characters wearing green caps (a sign in China of an unfaithful spouse), and feng shui experts making sure everything is positioned to bring good luck and prosperity.

Building by numbers

• Disney planners at the Hong Kong Magic Kingdom worked hard to ensure that the park complied with Chinese traditions of feng shui and auspicious, lucky numbers

• Bends in paths near entrances were designed, using advice from feng shui masters, to deter evil spirits. The park is filled with pools, lakes and water features, catering to the tradition that equates water with wealth and plenty

• A restaurant contains 2,238 lotus flowers, a lucky number in Chinese mythology, while a banquet hall has an area of 888 square metres. Eight is also a lucky number

Source: Times research

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