Universal Studios theme park heads to Beijing: media  

环球主题公园确定落户北京 总投资超200亿元

File photo of Universal Studios Hollywood. [Photo: China News Service / Mao Jianjun]

(ECNS) -- US film giant Universal Studios has won approval from China's government to build a theme park costing more than 20 billion yuan ($3.28 billion) in Beijing, Beijing Daily reported.

The park, to be jointly invested in by Universal Studios and a Beijing–based firm, will cover 120 hectares in Tongzhou district and is scheduled to open in 2019.

The newspaper said the country's National Development and Reform Commission approved the plan on August 25, nearly a year after it was submitted in December 2013.

Beijing city's Party Chief Guo Jinlong said great importance would be given to the project when inspecting the district on Sunday, according to an additional newspaper report.

Universal Studios Beijing will be the third theme park to feature Hollywood culture on the mainland; the others include Disneyland and the Oriental DreamWorks theme park in Shanghai.