After years of criticism on China’s slack enforcement of intellectual property rights, the Chinese have lately made many efforts to better their reputation. The entertainment industry in particular was suffering from the enormous amounts of counterfeited goods in the world’s most populous country. The copying has led to strained ties with the United States, whose trade deficit with China soared to US$232.5 billion last year.

Interestingly, this week the Chinese strike a symbolical blow to the Chinese pirates: The hammer has been lowered on “Shijingshan” a Disney Land ‘look-alike’ theme park that opened recently outside of Beijing. According to Disney, Shijingshan has attractions built on many of the same classic stories that the Walt Disney Corporation used to inspire their films and theme parks. 

The Shijingshan Amusement Park displayed Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. Deputy general manager Yin Zhiqiang said: "The characters in our park just look a little bit similar to Disney’s. But the faces, clothes, sizes and appearances are different." Mr. Yin insisted the Beijing park's features are all locally designed. The park’s landmark building is "Cinderella's Castle". It bears a striking resemblance to the 'original' at Disneyland in California. To top it all off, a banner over the entrance said, "Disney is too far, so please come to Shijingshan."

Lawyers for the park and the Walt Disney Co. are now negotiating, said Mr. Yin. However many local people report that parts of the park have already been demolished. A juicy detail to this story is that the park is owned by the local government of Beijing's Shijingshan District. This may explain why the park has been closed down so suddenly.

A Disney spokeswoman, Alannah Goss, declined to comment on the Shijingshan story but sent a statement affirming Disney's determination to fight copying. "Disney values and protects its intellectual property vigorously and takes reports of suspected infringement very seriously," the statement said.

Sources:  Disney Blog, Shang Ning (photo), Metro UK