BEIJING, July 12 -- The Walt Disney Co. was planning a range of projects in China, including a theme park on the mainland, incoming chief executive Robert Iger said.

    Iger's comments come about two months before the Sept. 12 launch of the US$3.6 billion Hong Kong Disneyland, the company's second resort in Asia after Japan.

    Disney said last week it would not open a second theme park in China before 2010. The company said earlier it was weighing a theme park for Shanghai.

    Disney forecasts about 10 million visitors at its Hong Kong park every year, which will make the development a key to the company's future expansion in China.

    ¡°Our primary targets would be development of a park on the mainland, launching the Disney Channel and building our presence on new media platforms, such as broadband and mobile phones,¡± said Iger. ¡°And, of course, more Disney movies.¡±

    Iger said earnings from Disney's movies were modest in China, citing ticket pricing, the relatively small number of theater screens and the ¡°fairly limited¡± split of revenue for studios.

    China's 1.3 billion people include 290 million under the age of 14, Disney's prime audience, presenting the company with a potentially huge market, the U.S. magazine Time said.

    Unlike his predecessor, outgoing chief executive Michael Eisner, Iger had made overseas expansion a priority, the magazine said. He had visited China several times, met senior government leaders and even seen a movie at a Shanghai theater, the magazine said.

    Construction on Disney's Hong Kong theme park and resort, which was announced in 1999, began in January 2003.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)