Shanghai Disney to have Chinese flavor

SHANGHAI - The Shanghai Disney Resort will feature Chinese elements that will make the amusement park unique, according to Robert Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company.

It is important that Shanghai Disneyland, currently being constructed, incorporates enough elements that Chinese people believe are culturally relevant, Iger told Xinhua in an interview.

"In terms of Chinese elements, we feel it is important to balance China and Disney, not America, because the brand of Disney is global," Iger said.

He said the new park will have "things that are Disney" because people in China like them. "We don't want to deprive them of that."

However, he said there will be new attractions, different to those found in other Disney parks around the world. "It will be almost exclusive."

Iger said the new park will have a lot of entertainment and show elements that will be very Chinese in nature, "because they will be performed by Chinese people, and designed, directed and created by artists from China."

Shanghai Disney Resort, the world's sixth Disney amusement park and the first on the Chinese mainland, will be located in the city's Pudong New Area. It will also be the third of its kind in Asia, after Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The resort is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Shanghai Shendi Group, with the latter holding 57 percent of shares and Disney the remaining 43 percent.

Construction of the park is expected to be completed in 2015.

"When Shanghai Disneyland opens, I think many more people from China will be interested in coming than we expected when we first decided to build it there," Iger said.