China’s Wanda Plans to Build Children’s Theme Parks

BEIJING: The Chinese real estate firm and cinema chain Wanda Group is planning to build 200 children's theme parks by 2020, set to open in Dongguan, Kunming, Xishan and Tongzhou near Beijing.

The Wanda Baby King parks will target kids 0 to 8 and families. Themes include photography, birthday parties, family restaurants and children's plazas, along with exhibitions based on cartoons that Wanda has commissioned. Plans are to have 23 parks opened by 2015, increasing to 200 by 2020. The parks will be between 3,000 and 5,000 square meters.

Earlier this week, Wanda unveiled its $900 million investment to build a hotel and leisure complex in Australia's Gold Coast. This followed on a recently announced $1.2 billion investment for a plot in Beverly Hills for its U.S. entertainment headquarters.

Dalian Wanda Group was founded in 1988 and operates across commercial property, luxury hotels, culture and tourism, and department stores. In May 2012, it acquired the U.S.-based cinema operator AMC Theaters for around $2.6 billion. The following year it acquired the British yacht builder Sunseeker International. In 2013, the company’s assets totaled 380 billion yuan ($61.7 billion), its annual income reached 186.6 billion yuan ($30.3 billion) and net profits exceeded 12.5 billion yuan ($2.03 billion).