Government and Policy

Shanghai to invest 40 billion yuan on tourism

By Quan Li (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-02-17 17:30

Shanghai plans to invest more than 40 billion yuan (about $6.1 billion) to accelerate its development as a "world-famous tourist city" under the municipality's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), according to a report by China News Agency on Wednesday.

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As many as 13 major tourism projects will benefit from the investment, including the Shanghai-based Disneyland theme park that will formally launch its construction next month. Each of the projects will get more than one million yuan investment, according to the report.

On Wednesday, local authorities said Shanghai has set a growth target of 70 percent in tourism revenues over the next five years up to 2015 to develop tourism into a strategic pillar industry of the country's financial and business center.

By 2015, the city plans to attract 240 million visits by domestic tourists, which would be an annual increase of 2.3 percent. The city is also looking to attract 10 million overseas tourists, which would be a 4.6 percent annual jump.