Walt Disney Co. executives are emphasizing their Chinese connections as they launch an extension of the $5.5 billion Disney Resort in Shanghai amid rising trade tensions and threats of punishing tariffs from both Washington and Beijing.
Bob Weis, a top Disney executive, says most of the labor and materials that went into the new Toy Story Land are from China. “We’re a local company,” he said at Thursday’s colorful launch. “Everything here is built and made in China.”
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Disney has taken an unusually collaborative approach to its Shanghai theme park, handing over 57 percent of ownership to a state-owned Chinese partner, which may help shield the company from political risk.
In the past, political tensions have prompted protests and boycotts of South Korean, Japanese and U.S. businesses in China.
