Li Shixiang, Member of Standing Committee of CPC Beijing Committee and executive vice-mayor of Beijing, attended the signing ceremony at New York headquarter of the USA cable company NBCUniversal on Sunday.
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Under the contract, state-owned consortium Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment and Comcast’s unit Universal Parks & Resorts will establish a joint venture to build the park, according to Canada’s CTV News.
Plans for the theme park were first announced in 2014.
To construct a theme park of this magnitude, the project will have to be split into stages.
The project was approved last September by China’s State Council and the National Development and Reform Commission after 13 years of negotiation and planning. This will be the third Asian location for Universal properties, and will be located in Beijing.
A Beijing-themed festival kicks off at Universal Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, January 2013. American director Steven Spielberg will also participate in designing the park. In the second stage, another theme park, a water park and five additional resort hotels will be added.
Line 7 of the Beijing subway will be extended east to reach the park and the Batong Line will also be expanded to the park’s resort.
As US and European amusement parks see flattening or declining attendance, entertainment companies are betting on China to drive expansion.
Universal Orlando consists of two theme parks: Universal Studios Florida, which opened in 1990, allows visitors to “Ride the Movies” and Islands of Adventure, opened in 1999, hosts the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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Universal Parks and Resorts are stepping up their game worldwide, with huge parks already established in Japan, and most recently in Singapore.
