By Yuan Fang
China.org.cn staff reporter

There is still no timetable for the construction of Shanghai's Disney theme park, Han Zheng, mayor of Shanghai, said on Saturday.

Shanghai deputies meet the press after a delegation meeting on Saturday

"We are in a serious relationship with Disney but haven't yet tied the knot," Han quipped at a press conference given by the Shanghai delegation to the annual session of the National People's Congress.

Talks between Shanghai and Walt Disney Company about opening the first Disney theme park on the Chinese mainland have been going on for over ten years, but last year the two parties adopted a more proactive and practical attitude, according to Han.

Asked whether the Shanghai Disney project might suffer from a capital shortage because of the global financial crisis, Mayor Han said, "There is no such problem."

Han also said that profits from the Hong Kong Disney theme park have not met expectations, and that talks about the Shanghai theme park will address this issue in advance.

After years of rumors, Shanghai confirmed in January that the city authorities and the Walt Disney Company had reached an agreement on the major issues concerning the construction of the first Disneyland theme park on the Chinese mainland.

The theme park is expected to be built in the southeast suburbs of Shanghai's Pudong area, about 20 minutes drive from the city's international airport.

Yu Zhengshen (left) and Han Zheng

(China.org.cn March 9, 2009)