THE Walt Disney Company has revealed plans to build a theme park in mainland China, probably in Shanghai, having established a foothold with the opening this year of a multibillion-dollar park in Hong Kong.

Bob Iger, chief operating officer, who will take over from Michael Eisner as Disney’s chief executive at the end of September, said that the media conglomerate’s main plan for China was to build a theme park.

“Our primary targets would be development of a park on the mainland, launching the Disney Channel and building our presence on new media platforms, such as broadband and cell phones,” he said.

Confirmation that the company plans to open a theme park in mainland China is a key step forward from its previous comments that such a huge project was merely a consideration.

In February the company said that it was evaluating a theme park in Shanghai, but first would expand the Hong Kong park that is scheduled to open in September. Opening it will be one of Mr Eisner’s last official duties as chief executive.

Mr Iger’s comments underscore the potential that Disney sees in China, despite the fact that the company suffers billions of dollars a year in lost revenues in the country because of rampant piracy of products such as Hollywood films and Winnie the Pooh T-shirts.

Disney, with other media conglomerates, is attracted to the possibilities presented by China’s massive population. About a quarter of China’s 1.3 billion people are under the age of 14 — Disney’s target audience.

The company played down reports it planned to build a massive theme park in Shanghai before 2010. Local media said that the proposed park would cover an area of six square kilometres, four times the size of the $3.6 billion (£2 billion) Hong Kong park.

One mainland newspaper said that Disney would provide technology and capital for a 51 per cent stake in a joint venture with Shanghai’s government-backed Lujiazui Group, which would contribute land near the Pudong international airport.

Disney insisted that no park would be built in mainland China before 2010. “The market could handle a second park in China, but these things take a lot of time to develop, so there definitely won’t be one in this decade,” one person familiar with the company said.

A second park in China — a third in Asia, including the existing Tokyo park — could pose a sizable risk for Disney, which this year is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original Disneyland in California. It has not always been immediately successful with the development of new parks. Euro Disney, which operates the Disneyland Paris resort outside the French capital, has twice been bailed out after struggling to repay its debts.

The Hong Kong park, developed in partnership with the Hong Kong Government, is expected to attract ten million visitors a year, many of whom will come from fast-growing mainland provinces near by. Jay Rasulo, the head of Disney’s parks and resorts division, said this year that the Hong Kong park “will establish a beachhead for the Disney brand in one of the most exciting and fastest-growing markets in the world”.

The park is expected to provide a big boost for the Hong Kong economy, but local officials fear that competition from another nearby Disney park would hit profits.

PARK LIFE

Disneyland, Anaheim, Los Angeles, opened 1955; Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, 1971; Tokyo Disney, 1983; Disneyland Paris, 1992; Hong Kong Disneyland, to open September 2005

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