New billion-dollar theme park to rival Dreamworld to be built by Chinese developers

CHINA’S richest man is poised to build a “major”, multi-billion dollar theme park expected to rival Dreamworld and Movieworld.

Mr Xie declined to say whether the park would have a Disney theme but the household name is aggressively pushing into China, where more than 59 luxury theme parks have been proposed.

CHINA’S richest man is poised to build a major theme park on the Gold Coast expected to rival Dreamworld and Movie World.

Wang Jianlin’s Chinese conglomerate, the Wanda Group, is negotiating with the State Government to obtain land at Coomera to build the multi-billion-dollar attraction.

Speaking exclusively to the Gold Coast Bulletin, Wanda Group general manager Xie Hong said theme parks were a primary focus of the company’s international plans and the Gold Coast was the perfect location.

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“Wanda in Australia has already acquired the biggest cinema company in the country and theme parks are one of the things Wanda wants to invest in in the future,” Mr Xie said.

“It is Wanda’s intention to set a theme park up on the Gold Coast but this major project is still under negotiation with the State Government.”

The plan has the backing of city leaders, with Coomera MP Michael Crandon saying there was “an abundance of land in Coomera which lends itself to theme park development. The more development of this scale we can attract to the northern Gold Coast the better.

“I would bet the other theme parks in the area will want this because it will bring more people into the area.”

Visitors ride on a roller coaster ride at Xishuangbanna Resort in Yunnan, China.

Mr Xie declined to say whether the park would have a Disney theme but the household name is aggressively pushing into China where more than 59 luxury theme parks have been proposed.

The Wanda Group recently forked out $2.5 billion on a theme park and resort in Yunnan, southwest China, which features dozens of elaborate roller-coasters and world-class hotels over a massive 5.3 square kilometres block.

Dreamworld patrons on the Wipeout ride. Picture: Adam Head

The Wanda Xishuangbanna International Resort can hold up to 5 million people a year across three five-star hotels and numerous apartment complexes while Wanda has predicted more than 200 million people will visit their tourism parks in the next five years.

Mr Xie also spent around $936 million building a movie theatre in Wuhan for a musical and acrobatic production.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk travelled to Beijing with a trade mission in October to meet with Mr Xie and reportedly promised to work with him in Queensland.

Wanda has already invested significantly in the Gold Coast market, including the $1 billion Jewel project in Surfers Paradise and helping fund direct flights through Jetstar from Wuhan to the Gold Coast.

Wang Jianlin. Picture: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

While Wanda is planning a series of major projects across Australia, including Sydney and Melbourne, Mr Xie said the Gold Coast was their business priority. “Now that we have entered the Gold Coast market with direct flights we are planning to increase our offerings,” he told the Bulletin in Wuhan.

“Right now we are offering low to middle-range products but we want to launch a luxury service.

“We are doing projects all over Australia but the Gold Coast is our marketing priority.”

Tourism Minister Kate Jones said she would head to China next week

“I will be travelling to Yunnan Province to inspect the Wanda Resort and Theme Park,” she said.

Sharks in Sea World's Shark Bay exhibit. Picture: Scott Fletcher

Originally published as New billion-dollar theme park to rival Dreamworld to be built by Chinese developers