70% of Chinese theme parks 'in the red'

The China Daily has reported that, according to a survey by the Horizon Group, one of China's leading strategic research and consultancies, more that 70% of China's 2,500 theme parks are operating at a defecit.

The report revealed that China has invested about 150 billion yuan (US $22 billion) into these parks and that only about 10% of these parks have repaid their initial investment.

Chinese media has also reported that Guanghzhou's Grand World Scenic Park has closed recently, signifying, according to the Guangzhou Daily newspaper, the end of the country's first generation theme parks era.

The newspaper predicts that struggling parks will be replaced with new 'second generation' parks, citing Shanghai's plan to construct a Disney theme park and Zhejiang's plan to rebuild Yuanmingyuan, or the old Summer Palace, as examples.

Liu Wei, a professor from Guangdong University of Finance was quoted as explaining "the theme-park industry hasn't got to a dead end, on the contrary, it's just taking off in China, and it's going to be a promising industry if distinctive features and innovation are added to it."

2nd June 2008 - SIX FLAGS PLANS MOVE INTO CHINA

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