Universal Studios' first theme park in China in progress, to include new attractions with Chinese heritage

Universal Studios had announced in 2014 that it had made an agreement to open its first ever US $3.3 billion theme park in China, the culmination of a 13-year effort to enter China’s fast-growing entertainment market.

US theme park operators are rushing to build in China, which has few high-quality parks but where park revenues have been growing rapidly as city dwellers spend more on entertainment and travel.

Construction is currently in progress and the duration of these tenders on average is about 815 days which means that the construction is likely to be finished by summer 2020 with a potential opening in late fall 2020 and has secured investment of 50 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion).

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The Beijing Universal theme park, to be developed with the state firm Beijing Tourism Group Co, will have China-themed attractions in addition to well-known ones based on Western brands like the Harry Potter series.

“There is Disneyland in Hong Kong, but there isn’t really anything of equivalent quality of a tourist attraction on the mainland yet,” said James Roy, associate principle of China Market Research Group. “It has a chance to be very successful.”

The theme park will be located in the eastern suburb of Tongzhou covering 1,000-acre land including a shopping center and hotel, reports said. It is also expected to have movie-centric rides similar to the theme parks in Los Angeles, Orlando, Japan, and Singapore while also introducing new features including China's cultural heritage.

It will compete against rival Walt Disney Co with its $4.4 billion theme park, as well as a $3.1 billion entertainment complex that DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc and Chinese partners built. Both of those parks are located in Shanghai.