Duan Qiang (left), party secretary and chairman of the Beijing Tourism Group, and Tom Williams look at photograph of movie characters at the ceremony.[Photo/Agencies]

China is home to 11 of the top 20 amusement parks in Asia, with about 166 million visits in 2013. Revenue is expected to total nearly $3 billion this year, estimates research firm Ibis World. There are 59 more parks in the pipeline, and by 2020, theme-park attendance in China could overtake the US market's 220 million visits last year, according to AECOM. As US and European amusement parks see flattening or declining attendance, theme park companies are betting on China to drive expansion.

Hong Kong Disneyland said in February that it was profitable for the second year in a row, partly due to new attractions that drew more visitors from the mainland. It plans to build a third hotel and new ride based on the Iron Man movie franchise, which is wildly popular on Chinese mainland. The Walt Disney Co's $5.5 billion Shanghai Disneyland resort is slated to open next year. It will take an "East-meets-West" approach with attractions like the Garden of the Twelve Friends with murals of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac depicted by popular Disney characters.

Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc is building a $2.4 billion complex with Chinese partners in Shanghai, scheduled to open in 2017. It will feature a 500-seat Imax cinema with international film festivals and red-carpet events planned as well as bars, restaurants and performance venues, the companies said. It will also showcase a "Dream Avenue" theater district modeled on London's West End and New York City's Broadway.

In June, Six Flags Entertainment Corp announced plans to build six parks in China over the next decade.

Developers will increasingly use international brands in theme parks, AECOM analysts Chris Yoshii and Beth Chang said in a 2013 leisure report. "We're already seeing major (intellectual property) groups active in the market in Asia: Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Dreamworks all very much so," they wrote. Some of the new parks also are trying to promote Chinese culture, stories and themes.

"Unlike in the US, where there was a push to create a standard, in Asia there's a lot of variety and experimentation," they add.