"Shendi is really a consortium of four powerful government-owned companies: the Shanghai Radio, Film and Television Development Company; Jin Jiang Hotels; Bailan retail shops; and a property developer, the Lujiazui Group. And each of these companies has separate business ties to Disney's new resort.
The Jin Jiang Group has a contract to provide tourism services for the park. The Lujiazui Group helped develop the world's largest Disney store. The Shanghai Media Group, a division of the development company, is positioned to capture a big share of the park's television and advertising budget, since it controls the city's biggest television stations, as well as major newspapers, magazines and radio properties.
So Disney will have to deal with a bewildering array of state affiliates acting as partners, suppliers, and even competitors, making contract negotiations complex and raising thorny conflict-of-interest issues. Shendi, for instance, has set up its own energy company to supply natural gas to the theme park site. And Shanghai Media Group has formed alliances or made investments with Disney competitors like Sony, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks Animation."
I added the bold emphasis to some of that quote from the New York Times article about Disney and China.
Another quote from the article is:
"The Communist Party maintains strict control over media companies."
That sentence is right before the paragraph about the "relocation of residents."
Copyright, with noted exceptions, L. Kochman, June 14, 2016 @ 4:54 p.m.
