After news reports surfaced Friday about Walt Disney Co.'s multibillion-dollar proposal to build a theme park in Shanghai, the company confirmed it is entertaining the possibility but said nothing has been made official.
"Discussions have been ongoing about the feasibility of a theme park project in China," Leslie Goodman, executive vice president of worldwide public affairs for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in a statement. "As part of this lengthy process, we worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review."
Added Goodman: "No deal has been agreed to, no project has been approved."
Disney opened Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island on Sept. 12, 2005, a joint venture of the Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government. In addition to the theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland features two hotels: the 400-room Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and the 600-room Disneys Hollywood Hotel. Shanghai Disneyland would be Disney's second theme park and resort in China and its first on the mainland.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the $3.59 billion Shanghai Disneyland proposal would be one of the largest foreign investments in China. In the park's first phase, a theme park, hotel and shopping outlets would be constructed near Shanghai's Pudong Airport by 2014, the Journal reported.