Universal Studios to open first China theme park in Beijing

Universal Studios said on Monday it had sealed an agreement to open a $US3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) theme park in Beijing, 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.

The park, which will feature characters and scenes from Hollywood blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Transformers franchises, will be located in the city's eastern district of Tongzhou, the city government's news office said on its verified account on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

The development will include a Universal-themed hotel as well as retail outlets and restaurants, The Mirror newspaper reported.

The project has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, and is expected to open to tourists in 2019, it said, without providing further details.

Tom Williams, chief executive of Universal Parks and Resorts, told a news conference in Beijing that the park would also aim to draw visitors from outside China, while Hollywood director Steven Spielberg said on video that he would be participating in its design.

"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."

It will compete against rival Walt Disney, which is constructing a $US4.4 billion theme park set to be completed next year, as well as a $US3.1 billion entertainment complex that DreamWorks Animation and Chinese partners are working to finish by 2016. Both of those parks will be located in Shanghai.