China's central government has officially approved the Shanghai Disneyland Project, the Shanghai municipal government announced Wednesday.

However, it will take another five years for the park's first phase of construction to be completed, according to a spokesman for the Pudong New District government.

An official involved in the project talks said the park's planned area was estimated at 7 square km. The project is expected to cost 25 billion yuan (3.66 billion U.S. dollars) .

Officials with the foreign investment department in the district government said several big state-owned firms in Shanghai would form a joint venture with the Walt Disney Co. to invest in the project.

The government's information office said Wednesday that talks had started on details of the project.

Disney president and CEO Robert Iger said in a statement that China was one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and the approval marked "a very significant milestone" for the Walt Disney Company in China's mainland.

The California-based company had its theme park business affected by the economic downturn. It reported a 19 percent year-on-year fall in profits from its parks and resorts for the fiscal third quarter in July.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Rita Lau said Wednesday that the planned Shanghai Disneyland theme park and the existing Hong Kong Disneyland would complement each other.

She said the Chinese economy was growing fast and the Chinese market, with its huge potential, would be big enough to sustain two Disneyland theme parks.

Margaret Fong, commissioner for tourism with the (HKSAR) government, said the Hong Kong park attracted visitors from not only mainland but also southeast Asia and other places.

Hong Kong business people have said the number of tourists from the mainland would fall as Disneyland visitors would be drawn to the Shanghai park, but the Hong Kong park, with some unique attractions, should remain an attraction.