Shenzhen mayor meets with foreign delegations

Shenzhen Mayor Qin Weizhong had a meeting with a delegation led by Scott M. O’Neil, chief executive officer of Merlin Entertainments, at the Plumeria Book Bar in the Shenzhen Fairy Lake Botanical Garden yesterday.

Merlin Entertainments, Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest visitor attraction operator, is most renowned for its attractions including the Legoland theme parks, Madame Tussauds wax museums and Sea Life Centers.

Scott M. O'Neil applies a finishing touch to the hotel sample rooms at Legoland Shenzhen Resort in Dapeng New Area yesterday. Photos courtesy of Legoland

Shenzhen, where the British leisure company is building what is expected to be the world’s largest Legoland theme park resort in Dapeng New Area, is the first stop of the delegation’s visit to China.

Qin extended welcome to the British delegation and introduced the beautiful botanical garden as well as the 2023 Greater Bay Area Flower Show, which was held in the garden from April 7 to yesterday.

According to Qin, the Dapeng Peninsula, which boasts a picturesque scenery and a spectacular coastline, is a popular destination for tourism, leisure and holiday in Shenzhen, the Guangdong-Hong-Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and even China. With a Metro line under planning, transportation from the city center to the peninsula will be more convenient.

“I have every confidence that the Legoland theme park project in Dapeng will be a big success and attract more visitors to the region,” Qin said.

O'Neil shows the master plan of Legoland Shenzhen Resort during his visit to the site in Dapeng yesterday.

According to Qin, he looked forward to discussions on wider cooperation with the firm.

The meeting disclosed that the project’s Phase I is planned to be put into operation at the end of next year.

O’Neil expressed gratitude to the city government’s great support in pushing forward the Legoland project in Dapeng. “It [the project] will be a tremendous tourist attraction in the years to come.”

O’Neil also believed that recreational projects like the Legoland theme park will be important to create and deliver fun and memorable experiences for tourists moving out the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qin yesterday also had a meeting with a delegation led by Stephan Keller, mayor of Dusseldorf, Germany. The two sides agreed to further enhance friendly exchanges and cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, enterprise exchanges and exhibition activities.

“Shenzhen has unique advantages in organizing exhibitions, with two exhibition centers covering an exhibition area of more than 500,000 square meters,” Qin said, hoping that the two cities will strengthen cooperation in exhibition activities.

Keller said that Dusseldorf and Shenzhen share many similarities and exhibition activities can be a link for more cooperation.

“Dusseldorf is an important destination for investment in Germany and Europe, with over 600 Chinese companies investing in the city,” Keller said.

Jan Kühn von Burgsdorff, acting consul general of Germany in Guangzhou, also attended the meeting.