Villagers watch TV journalists broadcasting from the empty field in Shanghai's eastern Pudong district where Disney plans to build its first theme park in mainland China. (Andy Wong/Associated Press)China's planning agency has approved the Walt Disney Company's proposal to build one of its massive amusement parks in the bustling city of Shanghai.

The facility — slated to be one of the entertainment giant's "Magic Kingdom-style" theme parks, tailored with details specific to the region — is to be located in Shanghai's eastern Pudong district, not far from the city's international airport.

"China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone for The Walt Disney Company in mainland China," Disney president and CEO Robert A. Iger said in a statement.

The Shanghai city government confirmed the approval by China's National Development and Reform Commission.

Officials in Shanghai, mainland China's main financial and commercial hub, are forecasting a boom in tourism and job creation thanks to the theme park project — an initiative Disney has been pursuing for about a decade.

The company already employs hundreds of Chinese staffers at its offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and opened a theme park in Hong Kong in 2005.

While the Hong Kong park has suffered from disappointing attendance since its opening, officials there downplay any competition with the prospective new facility in Shanghai.

"Our country has 1.3 billion people. We can see that our country's economic development has created a very big market. It can easily accommodate two Disneylands," Rita Lau, Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, told reporters on Wednesday.

Disney's other theme parks are located in Anaheim, Calif., close to Orlando, Fla., in the suburbs of Paris and in Urayasu, Japan, near Tokyo.

With files from The Associated Press