The central government of China has approved Universal Studios’ $3.25bn plan for a theme park in the Tongzhou District in the south-east of Beijing.Â
The park, which is expected to open in 2019, will be built on a 120ha site, but this could be expanded to 40ha over time. It will be Universal’s biggest theme park anywhere in the world.
As well as the park, a "CityWalk" entertainment complex will be built. This will include a shops, eating places and cinemas, as well as Universal’s first themed resort hotel.
The project will be Universal’s first in Asia but will face competition from Disney and DreamWorks, which have multi-billion dollar projects in Shanghai, both of which are set to open in 2016.
Although the director Steven Spielberg is a principal partner of Dreamworks, he is to help design Universal Beijing park. He made films such as Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park for the studio.
Duan Qiang, chairman of Beijing Tourism Group and BSH Investment, said: "Universal Beijing will showcase blockbuster movie themes and present entertaining family shows that will highlight the very best of popular culture.
"It will be a tourism crown jewel, not only for Beijing but for all of China. In bringing Universal to China, we will also share the best of China with the world."
In 2013, China became the largest box office outside America. The entertainment and media market in the country is expect to reach $148bn by 2015.
