Universal appeal, set to grow

The area that hosts the capital's leading international theme park is poised to expand its entertainment offerings, Li Yingxue reports.

In 2025, visitors to Universal Beijing Resort can shop at the city's largest luxury-outlet mall, stay in a five-star hotel, and may have the opportunity to get fit at the world's first Endeavor City urban sports center, all in one vicinity.

The authorities of Beijing's subcenter recently signed deals to build the Beijing Haichang Ocean Park and the Poly International Art Exhibition Center, during the China International Fair for Trade in Services in the capital, to advance its cultural-tourism district's aspirations to become a world-class travel and vacation destination.

The district's plan calls for strategically positioning six major projects in its north, in addition to the Universal Beijing Resort, which will also host a comprehensive transportation hub, an international talent community and an indoor complex, featuring internationally renowned children's favorites like Peppa Pig, Barbie, and Thomas and Friends, says Suo Wenwen, an official of Beijing's subcenter.

"We're also looking at the potential to navigate the area's waterways to create a tourism and business corridor that could form a 'blue economic belt'," Suo says.

Universal's presence helped to boost the year-on-year revenue growth of Tongzhou district's cultural, sports and entertainment industry to 101.6 percent between January and June, surpassing the citywide average by 97.7 percentage points, Suo says.

The first phase of the resort's inauguration was named among the top 10 national cultural center construction achievements of 2021 in September of that year. This prompted the resort to celebrate its "birthday month" from Sept 1 until the end of the month this year.