Wanda Group takes aim at Mickey Mouse
Print Edition
CHINA’S largest private property developer has opened an entertainment complex to rival Disney’s US$5.5 billion Shanghai theme park, which opens next month.
Wanda Group executives unveiled their US$3 billion Wanda City in the eastern city of Nanchang to thundering music reminiscent of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme and hailed the center as a representative of Chinese entertainment culture in the face of encroaching foreign influences.
The site includes an US$800 million China-themed park filled with twirling “porcelain teacup” rides and bamboo forests, an indoor shopping mall with cinemas, restaurants, hotels and the world’s largest ocean park.
Disney is set to open its own resort in Shanghai on June 16.
A key player in Chinese companies’ globalization push, Wanda has invested heavily in the film and cinema business and has spoken openly about its mission to fend off Disney in the Chinese market and become an entertainment brand recognized around the world.
In his remarks at Saturday’s opening, Wang Jianlin, Wanda chairman and the richest man on China’s mainland, did not mention Disney by name but said that Chinese people “fawned” over Western imports.
“Chinese culture led in the world for 2,000 years, but since the last 300 years, because of our lagging development and the invasion of foreign cultures, we have more or less lacked confidence in our own culture,” Wang said. “We want to be a model for Chinese private enterprise, and we want to establish a global brand for Chinese firms.”
In an interview with China Central Television earlier this month, Wang said Disney’s foray into China would “crumble” under more competitive pricing from his group, and warned that “the frenzy of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the era of blindly following them has passed.”
Disney’s China foray ‘will crumble’
Wang said Wanda would make it impossible for Disney’s China venture to make profit in the next 10 to 20 years.
Wanda’s dealmaking has been similarly aggressive as it quickly diversifies away from China’s real estate market.
The group purchased the US-based AMC Theaters cinema chain in 2012 for US$2.5 billion and paid US$3.5 billion for Legendary Entertainment — the Hollywood studio behind the Batman franchise — earlier this year as it ramped up its international push.
Seeking to capitalize on China’s rising middle class, developers are planning dozens of Chinese theme parks, along with projects from US firms like Universal Studios, DreamWorks and Six Flags. But instead of seeking to capture China’s top tier cities like Beijing or Shanghai, Wanda has built parks in smaller but still massive cities like Wuhan, where it regularly presents the “The Han Show” — a Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatic performance that’s based on the traditional culture of the Han, China’s largest ethnic group.
Another eight Wanda City projects are under construction and by 2020, 15 will have been built in China and another three overseas, according to Xinhua news agency.
Even so, there were signs of Disney’s presence in Wanda City. Tourists who opted against paying 198 yuan (US$30) for the theme park and headed for the shopping mall were greeted by what looked like a woman in a Snow White costume as well as storm troopers, the armored soldiers from the Star Wars franchise owned by Disney.
A Uniqlo store was fully stocked with Disney merchandise and sold stacks of Mickey Mouse T-shirts for about US$12 each.
In response to a question about the presence of Disney characters, Wanda said in a statement that the company “does not control the promotional activities of retailers.”
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