The concept photo of Shanghai Disney Resort fourth hotel Photo: Screenshot of Shanghai Disney Resort's official WeChat account

The Shanghai Disney Resort hosted its grand 10th anniversary celebrations on Tuesday, featuring a glowing custom birthday cake set before the castle, dancing Disney characters singing birthday melodies, and guests wearing costumes and mingling with the performers as they snapped commemorative photos. 

The resort welcomed more than 100 million visitors during its first decade and cre-ated 15,000 direct jobs. It unveiled details of its new Spider-Man-themed land and hotel expansion at the milestone event, a development mirroring a broader trend of international holders of entertainment intellectual property (IP) ramping up investment in China amid booming services consumption and broader opening-up, indus-try analysts noted. 

"When we opened these gates, we believed we could create something the world had never seen — a place where Disney storytelling met Chinese culture in a way that was genuinely new," Josh D'Amaro, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co, told media representatives, including those from the Global Times. 
 
"More than 100 million guest visits later, Shanghai Disney Resort stands as one of this company's proudest achievements. As we celebrate the park's first decade and look to its next, what excites me most is that we're just getting started," he said.

To coincide with its 10th anniversary celebrations, the resort revealed that con-struction of its ninth themed land, inspired by Spider Man, is progressing, with the roller-coaster track now fully installed. A third hotel is expected to open this win-ter. Beyond boosting local tourism, the resort directly employs about 15,000 people and serves as a driver of local economic growth, the Global Times learned from the resort.

The resort's sustained expansion and remarkable economic footprint over the past decade have set a convincing benchmark for overseas cultural and tourism opera-tors. Encouraged by China's thriving consumer demand and continuous opening-up of its services sectors, a growing number of global IP brands are speeding up their deployment in the country to tap into the huge leisure market.

Following its opening last July, LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort recently unveiled plans for a new play festival, featuring a newly unveiled activity zone covering 4,000 square meters. The event is tied to the FIFA World Cup and F1, offering in-teractive football games, racing challenges and themed photo spots for guests of all ages.

"We are glad to bring this global carnival to Chinese families. We hope children can explore, create, and grow through fun activities," Chen Jie, vice president of Merlin Entertainments and general manager of the resort, told the Global Times.

More international cultural and tourism projects are in the pipeline, demonstrating sustained confidence in China's leisure market from global entertainment players. Asia's first — and the world's largest — Peppa Pig outdoor theme park is set to open in Shanghai in 2027, according to the Shanghai Observer.

Ground was broken for China's first Harry Potter Studio Tour project in March in Shanghai and the civil construction is set for completion in January 2027, accord-ing to Shanghai Fabu, the official social media account of the municipal government.

Over in Beijing's Tongzhou district, Asia's first Ferrari World complex will be built. The complex will house the world's fastest roller coaster, an e-sports park, a Ferrari museum and exclusive club spaces. It is expected to receive 1.8 million visi-tors every year, the China Media Group reported.

The influx of international cultural and tourism projects stems from China's robust services consumption and deepened opening-up. The country's vast consumer base and supportive policies have drawn holders of world-famous cultural IPs, whose diverse offerings will further unlock domestic consumption potential and create mutual benefits for all sides, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

China's consumption market has maintained strong momentum in recent years, led by booming services consumption. In the first quarter of this year, retail sales of services rose 5.5 percent year-on-year, 3.3 percentage points faster than those of goods. Surging travel demand during holidays has boosted cultural tourism and event consumption, with retail sales of cultural, sports, leisure and tourism-related services all registering double-digit growth.

Disney's decade of operation in China has run parallel to the country's broader opening-up in the services sector. China has rolled out concrete opening-up measures in cultural, tourism and other services industries. These include allowing foreign-invested travel agencies to operate outbound tourism businesses, supporting foreign medical practitioners to set up clinics, and encouraging domestic game developers to expand overseas.

China's opening-up policies have facilitated the expansion of overseas cultural brands, while local demand for high-quality leisure services has laid a sound foundation for their development. Such cross-border cultural cooperation creates a win-win situation, where foreign brands gain access to China's huge consumer market, while mature international cultural resources help upgrade China's cultural tourism sector, Wang said.

Strong consumption vitality and an open market have made China increasingly ap-pealing to foreign investors. According to the Ministry of Commerce, 70,392 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide in 2025, up 19.1 percent year-on-year, and actually utilized foreign capital reached 747.69 billion yuan ($110.6 billion). The services sector stood out as a major recipient of foreign investment, accounting for 72.9 percent of the total, a record high.