Theme park giants eye western regions

The Walt Disney Co and Universal Studios Inc are busy opening their massive new businesses in China's affluent coastal areas, but other global leading theme park operators have their eyes fixed on the potential of the vast, less-developed inland regions.

About a month after the grand opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort, Six Flags Entertainment Corp announced on Wednesday, in southwestern China's Chongqing, that it is to build a new theme park, in partnership with Riverside Investment Group.

Chongqing Riverside-Six Flags Theme Town Park, which is to cost an estimated of 30 billion yuan ($4.48 billion), will be the first international theme park in western China.