Breaking | Wanda takes on Shanghai Disney with series of new theme parks across China
The property and cinema giant is hoping to open at least seven more parks and become the world’s biggest entertainment and tourism operator
Dalian Wanda Group has thrown down the gauntlet to the Walt Disney Company by opening the first of a series of planned tourist theme parks on the mainland.
The 20-billion-yuan Wanda Cultural Tourism City in Jiulonghu, a new development zone 15km outside Nanchang ( 南昌 ), capital of Jiangxi (江西) province, is the first of at least eight parks that Wanda Group hopes will transform it from the country’s largest private property developer and cinema chain operator into the world’s biggest entertainment and tourism company.
Future sites include Guangzhou, Hefei (合肥), Harbin ( 爾濱 ), Wuxi (無錫), Chengdu (成都) and Guilin (桂林).
Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin has made no secret of the fact that he feels Disney was mistaken to enter the mainland market and plans to take the US entertainment giant head on through sheer numbers and focus on Chinese culture.
“The mission of Wanda is to build China’s cultural brand in the world, expanding its influence and say,” Wang said at the opening ceremony of the Nanchang project.