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Shanghai to invest 40b yuan in tourism

By Cai Muyuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-02-17 15:43

Shanghai plans to invest more than 40 billion yuan ($5.95 billion) in 13 key tourism projects, including a Disneyland theme park that will start construction next month, China News Service reported Wednesday.

The news service learned from the Shanghai Tourism Industry Development Conference held on Feb 16 that Shanghai will accelerate construction of a "world-famous tourist city" during China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period.

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Although the number of investments in the theme park has not been revealed, industry insiders estimated that as a key project, Disneyland will get a big slice of the 40 billion yuan investment, the news service reported.

Yu Zhengsheng, head of the Shanghai municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, said the Shanghai Disneyland theme park is expected to attract 7 million to 10 million tourists each year. These visitors are expected to spend money at locations outside the park while they are in Shanghai, as well, which can be "a huge contribution to the city’s tourism", Yu said, the newspaper reported.