Story of Hong Kong Disneyland: 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to motherland

<p>Hong Kong Disneyland was initiated as an important economic project after Hong Kong&#39;s return to the motherland in 1997, and has witnessed the ups and downs of Hong Kong’s economy and growing exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong.</p><p>Hong Kong, hit by the Asian financial crisis and an economic recession in 1998, pinned hope on the growth in tourism and related industries to kick-start its economic recovery.</p><p>In 1999, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company to create Disney&#39;s first theme park in China.</p><p>It took only four years for the initial phase of the park project to be completed in 2004 after land reclamation in June 2000, going through one of the shortest construction periods of any Disneyland-style theme park.</p><p>Since its opening in 2005, the theme park has received more than 85 million visitors from home and abroad, contributed about 113.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($14.5 billion) to Hong Kong&#39;s gross domestic product, and created about 271,300 jobs.</p><p><span style="color: rgb(165, 165, 165);">(Video source: The Paper; With input from China Daily)</span></p>