It will be very hard for the Shanghai Disney Resort to turn a profit even in two decades because it has to compete against the existing facilities run by Dalian Wanda Group, the conglomerate's Chairman Wang Jianlin said in a program hosted by State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).
The Shanghai Disney Resort is an outdoor theme park that will be affected by the weather, said Wang. He also said that Disneyland lacks creativity in its business modes and cartoon images, according to a transcript compiled by Beijing-based magazine China Entrepreneur on Saturday.
The transcript was based on an interview with Wang in the Dialogue program broadcast by CCTV on Sunday.
The Shanghai Disney Resort has had to adopt a high-price strategy to be viable as the theme park cost about $5.5 billion in total, said Wang, adding that it will lose customers easily.
The Walt Disney Co and Shanghai Shendi Group said the Shanghai Disney Resort will open its doors on June 16.
Dalian Wanda has more than 15 theme parks in China, while there's only one Disneyland theme park in Shanghai, said Wang.
As one of the country's property giants, Dalian Wanda is seeking to change its core business as Wang thinks the era of high growth for that sector - real estate - has ended, the Financial Times reported.
Dalian Wanda started to diversify in 2012 when it purchased US film-theater chain AMC Entertainment Group for $2.6 billion.
Dalian Wanda also opened a $2.5 billion resort in Southwest China's Yunnan Province in September 2015 with the target of earning 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in the following five years, according to the company.
Wanda Cultural Industry Group, Dalian Wanda's subsidiary, is China's largest cultural enterprise, with assets of 90.3 billion yuan and annual revenue of 51.2 billion yuan in 2015. It has four companies in such sectors as children entertainment and tourism holdings, said the company.
Still, there's been concern among investors and analysts about Wanda itself. In April, Hong Kong-listed Dalian Wanda announced a privatization plan that was seen as helping it raise money in the short term but leading to uncertainties for its longer-term globalization, experts said.
