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The instant success of Universal Beijing Resort is another proof of foreign investment's confidence in China

Rebbeca Ren

posted on September 28, 2021 11:51 am

With the official opening of Universal Beijing Resort, the Chinese capital city has become the most attractive tourist spot during the Mid-Autumn Festival, showing that despite the current tensions in China-US relations, Western popular culture is still appreciated by the Chinese.

Located in Beijing's Tongzhou District, where the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center is seated, the resort is the fifth Universal Studios theme park globally, the third in Asia, and the first in China.

The ticket price, which ranges from 418 yuan ($64.74) in the off-season to 748 yuan in the peak season, is somewhat pricey for Chinese consumers with an annual per capita disposable income of 32,189 yuan ($4985), but people still show enormous eager to get access to the park.

Starting from September 20, the resort was open to the public, and tickets for the opening day reportedly sold out in half an hour. Trip.com, China's largest online travel agency, even witnessed an 800% increase in web traffic for searching nearby hotels and transportation options. 

Previously, the theme park had undergone a one-month trial operation and was only open to insiders and invited visitors. To get in, some people are willing to spend up to 5,000 yuan in exchange for invitations from the scalpers.

Posts about experiencing various entertainment programs at the resort are widely circulated on social media, and videos featuring Megatron are always the most discussed. By interacting with tourists in the form of stand-up comedy, the well-known villain in "Transformers" quickly became the most anticipated character.

Video clips of Megatron are trending on social media Xiaohongshu (also known as Red)
Video clips of Megatron are trending on social media Xiaohongshu (also known as Red)

“I’ve been browsing videos about Megatron for weeks and it’s hilarious to see such a badass movie character talking like a talk show host. Definitely, Transformers is my first stop at the resort," Alin, a 27-year-old tech worker living in Beijing, said, adding that when she visited the park during the Mid-Autumn Festival, there was a huge line of tourists waiting to take pictures and talk to Megatron.

The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter is another hit spot where visitors are willing to wait for hours outside Three Broomsticks to grab a glass of butterbeer and get wizarding world supplies from Hogwarts. For many Chinese, Harry Potter is the starting point for their exposure to Western fantasy novels and movies.

Aiming to better connect with the Chinese market, the resort has also made a series of localization efforts. The Animated movie series Kung Fu Panda appeared in a Universal Studios theme park for the first time with its own park. Also, the headquarter of Transformers Metrobase features many Chinese elements, such as the ancient Chinese astronomical instrument armillary sphere; and images of Feitian, flying goddesses in Dunhuang cave frescoes. 

Behind the phenomenal popularity is the effortless support from the Chinese government, considering the resort is a joint venture between state-owned enterprise Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment and Comcast's Universal Parks and Resorts. The former holds 70% in the JV, while the latter holds 30%.

Universal Beijing Resort Station
Universal Beijing Resort Station

According to Yang Lei, deputy head of Beijing's Tongzhou District, the construction investment of the resort totaled more than 35 billion yuan ($5.4 billion). The government has also reportedly invested a lot of money in public infrastructures such as subways and highways to ensure the operation of the resort.

As a major foreign-investment project in the service industry in Beijing, the park was able to land after decades of negotiations. Tom Williams, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts, called the length of negotiations “typical” for China.

In early 2001, the Beijing government and the US side negotiated the construction of a Universal Resort in Beijing. In October of the same year, the two parties signed a letter of intent for cooperation.

After the project was approved in 2014, the JV was established in December 2017, and the Beijing Universal Resort officially started construction in July 2018.

At that time, although the Trump administration had initiated the trade war against China, intensifying the conflict between China and the US, the construction of the park was going smoothly. 

The theme park is like a bridge, which promotes cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the people on both sides, and demonstrates China's sincerity in opening up.

Meanwhile, with the world's largest and fastest-growing middle-income group, China has enormous consumption potential to be tapped, which lures foreign capital to flow in. 

Shake Shack's storefront in Beijing
Shake Shack's storefront in Beijing

Tactful American brands are also noticing the value of China's massive consumer market and expanding their presence in the region. For example, New York-headquartered burger chain Shake Shack opened its third store in mainland last August, Virginia-based burger chain Five guys entered Shanghai in April, fast fashion firm Brandy Melville opened its second store in China in May, etc,...

In its latest earnings call, Shake Shack said it plans to continue the momentum in China with an expanded partnership to open more stores across the country over the next 10 years.

According to the commerce ministry, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the mainland, in actual use, in the first six months of the year jumped to 607.84 billion yuan ($93.89 billion), up 28.7% from the same period last year.