Luneng Group, a unit of State Grid Corp, is building theme parks based on BBC Worldwide's Top Gear and Earth shows.

The new venture, which comes on the back of a boom in the leisure industry, will be executed by Luneng Commerce and Tourism Property Co, and will designed around two of the BBC's best-known brands - motoring show Top Gear and documentary series Earth.

The first park will be built in Wenchang, on the island province of Hainan.

Zhou Tao, executive director of Luneng Commerce and Tourism, says the company will invest nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion; 1.34 billion euros) to construct the 400,000-square-meter resort and to buy the rights from BBC Worldwide.

"What we'll offer will be a totally different experience. Chinese visitors will love the concepts of nature, humanity and cars," he says, adding that the park is forecast to attract about 3 million visitors in 2019, when it is set to open, with that number eventually rising to 5 million.

In addition to conventional theme parks, the company will build a water park by teaming up with ProSlide, a water slide manufacturer and water park planner. The venture will entail an investment of 1 billion yuan.

Zhou says the parks will be aimed at driving local economies and creating jobs.

Luneng Commerce and Tourism's venture is in line with an explosion in theme parks in a region hungry for entertainment, he says.

Resort behemoths have been making a beeline for China of late. The Walt Disney Co opened its biggest resort in Shanghai in June, and is expecting 10 million visitors this year alone.

Universal is also planning a big park in Beijing, Wanda group has unveiled plans for as many as 15 cultural parks across China, and Fangte Happy World, a domestic company that operates 13 parks already, plans to open more this year. Unsurprisingly, market experts caution that sustainability, growth and profitability could prove to be concerns in China's theme park industry.

"They can't all develop. Some of them won't happen," says Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services.

Zhou, a veteran of the commercial property business, says every player should seek to be different from the others to turn a profit. "Disney may be considered a dominant force, but we're different. We work for family-oriented markets," he says.

That is a view Stephen Davies, BBC Worldwide's director of live entertainment, understands.

"Nothing in the world would be similar to our Top Gear and Earth concepts, because it's something that brings all areas of the world into one place, so you can experience the whole earth in one day," he says.

So far this year, Luneng Group has earned 42 billion yuan from property sales, not far from its annual target of 60 billion yuan.

lvchang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/30/2016 page31)