BEIJING - Rife with business opportunities, Shanghai Disneyland is already attracting Chinese companies to invest in its vicinity years before it opens to public, the Shanghai Securities News reported Thursday.

More than 10 Chinese companies have already sealed or are about to ink investment contracts with the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone (SITRZ), a tourism complex centered around the Disney resort, the report said.

Most of the companies are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the service sector, including Datang Telecom, China Mobile, the Nam Kwong Group, Franshion Properties under Sinochem Group, China Telecom, and Huadian New Energy Development Company under China Huadian Corporation, the paper said.

Other SOEs, such as the China National Travel Service (HK) Group, China CYTS Tours Holding Company, CITS Investment and Development Company, Shanghai Gold Company under China National Gold Group, and PetroChina's Shanghai sales arm, have also been in talks with the SITRZ regarding possible cooperation, the report said.

Contract implementation will take some time, as most of the agreements being made are framework agreements, the report said.

Construction on a 24.5-billion-yuan ($3.85 billion) Disney resort in Shanghai's southeastern Pudong New Area kicked off in April, and the park is scheduled to open in 2016.

Covering an area of 1.16 square km, the theme park inside the 3.9-sq-km Shanghai Disney resort will be the world's sixth Disney amusement park and the first one on the Chinese mainland.

It will serve as an anchor for the 20-sq-km SITRZ, which is designed to accommodate hotels and large-scale entertainment venues.

The theme park will help generate 48 billion yuan in service output value per year, the report said, citing a government report.

According to another report produced by the municipal Development and Reform Commission, the project is expected to provide a boost to more than 100 sectors in Shanghai, including tourism, commerce and trade and the logistics industry.

The report estimated that the park will bring in 18 billion yuan in annual revenues for the city's tourism sector, as well as 6 billion yuan for the commerce and trade sector.