SHENZHEN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese company signed an agreement Monday with three other partners to construct a Disneyland-style theme park in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Huaqiang Holdings Limited, based in Shenzhen, will cooperate with China Development Bank, the China-Africa Development Fund, and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa to build a 770,000 square meter theme park at a cost of 250 million U.S. dollars.

    The theme park will consist of three zones: Chinese culture, African culture and world culture, according to Liang Guangwei, chairman of the board of Huaqiang Holdings Limited.

    Construction will start late this year and will take two to three years to complete. The goal is to entice 2 million tourists a year.

    Liang said he felt proud that China was the second country in the world after the United States in exporting theme parks to foreign countries.

    Cassim Nakkooda, director of trade and investment promotion in Johannesburg City, was present at the agreement signing ceremony.

    Huaqiang Holdings Limited, a state-owned company engaged in electronics and sugar production, expanded into making 3D cinematic equipment for overseas customers eight years ago.

    It has built or is in the process of constructing amusement parks in five Chinese cities.

    It began to build a theme park in Iran in May 2008. Chinese investment in this project totals 80 million euros. Huaqiang also completed designs for two other theme parks in Ukraine and Nigeria last year.