"I am definitely sure that the municipal government has not clinched any deal or legal written documents with Disney so far," said Zhao Kangmei, a senior official of the Shanghai Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Commission.

The official response is at odds with some Hong Kong media reports that Shanghai has already signed agreements with Disney on building a second theme park in China.

China's first Disney Park will open in Hong Kong in 2005. It is feared that Shanghai will compete with Hong Kong on tourism if the city successfully reaches an agreement with Disney.

Zhao, who is also a member of the city's foreign investors committee, said he should be informed of any deal related with foreign business cooperation.

"But I've heard nothing about the agreement at the moment," he stressed.

However, Zhao did not deny that Shanghai was engaged in negotiations with Disney.

"We have many investment negotiations with various foreign enterprises, including Disney and Vivendi Universal Entertainment," he said.

Given that China is a country with a population of nearly 1.3 billion, it is not a major problem if Shanghai builds a second theme park, Zhao said.

Although Shanghai is developing by leaps and bounds, it still lags behind Hong Kong in terms of such factors as an efficient civil service, policy-making and the rule of law, are the unique strengths of the SAR, Zhao stressed.

Shanghai would continue to strengthen ties with Hong Kong and Macao to accelerate economic integration, he said.

In addition, Zhao revealed that Shanghai would organize an investment promotion activity in Hong Kong at the end of the year or early next year.

Shanghai municipal government has not organized such an investment promotion in the SAR since 1998.

The four-day promotion, led by mayor Chen Liangyu, will focus on projects of the tertiary industry, Zhao added.

(China Daily HK Edition August 30, 2002)