Australia to replicate full-sized Forbidden City

GAMING WARS

In the lucrative gaming sector, Australia is up against stiff competition. Macao, the world's largest gambling destination, is adding more than six new casino resorts in the next three years. The Philippines is building 'Entertainment City', a complex in Manila that will have four large integrated resorts - also in the next three years.

Crown Ltd and Echo Entertainment Ltd are waging an increasingly acrimonious war to gain a lock in Sydney on gambling tourists from Chinese mainland.

Echo, which holds the sole licence to operate a casino in the harbourside city until 2019, is lobbying for an extension of that exclusivity and an expansion of its Star Casino in an attempt to block Crown's plans for a high-roller gaming suite.

Crown's proposed VIP facility is part of a A$1 billion six-star hotel and residential development on Sydney's waterfront that majority owner, billionaire James Packer, has said will bring "thousands more Chinese tourists to Sydney that otherwise wouldn't visit".

Crown and Echo must submit proposals by June 21 and the government will approve only one, meaning either Crown builds a second casino or Echo remains the sole gambling operator.

Industry sources said the government was likely to approve Crown's Barangaroo development, allowing Packer to add to his expanding Asian gaming empire.

David Green, chief executive of Newpage Consulting in Macau, said two casinos in Sydney could add $1 billion to the local market, taking it to $5 billion in gaming revenue annually and putting it on par with Singapore, the third-largest gambling market in the world.

PANDA PARADISE

The privately held Australian Chinese Theme Park Pty Ltd (ACTP), meanwhile, is hoping its development around 90 km (56 miles) northeast of Sydney becomes a major destination alongside the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

ACTP expects to submit a full development plan for the 15-hectare park within months and begin construction in the second half of next year. The park will be split into seven different cultural sections - including a panda-less "panda paradise", an educational 4D cinema and a waxworks museum for children.

Entry to the park will be free, with revenue derived from the scores of planned food outlets and other activities.

"It will show our culture in a creative way, this is not a copy," said ACTP Chairman Bruce Zhong, who bought the block of land from Wyong Council for A$10 million last year.

Financial backers include Shanghai Oriental Pearl International Communication Pty Ltd and Zhong said ACTP may look to list in the future.

Zhong and Eaton anticipate some local tourists but a glittery launch event in Shanghai last month showed Chinese travelers were the target.

"I would love to go, since it is about China," said Dai Miaohua, an office manager from Shanghai taking in the sights of Sydney's Circular Quay with his family. "I have always been interested in traditional buildings."

But not everybody is won over.

"I don't even like Chinatown," said the visiting Liu. "Why don't they build a Disneyland?"