Profit fell 23.7 percent even as the park added visitors
In the ancient city of Kaifeng, a theme park built around a thousand-year-old painting of dynastic life has turned to Hong Kong's capital markets for its next chapter. Kaifeng Millennium City Park filed for a Hong Kong IPO as China's leisure economy shows signs of fatigue — more parks opening, yet fewer visitors walking through their gates. The move speaks to a wider restlessness among mainland enterprises seeking growth narratives abroad even as the domestic story grows harder to tell.
- China's theme park sector expanded by five large parks in 2024, yet visitor numbers fell 1.76% and sector revenue dropped 3.74% — growth in supply meeting contraction in demand.
- Kaifeng Millennium City Park's net profit plunged 23.7% last year, even as its revenue barely moved, exposing a widening gap between operational scale and financial health.
- The company's cultural anchor — a life-size recreation of a celebrated 12th-century Song dynasty scroll — gives it a distinctive identity, but distinctiveness alone has not arrested the decline.
- Management is betting that a Hong Kong listing can unlock capital and investor confidence that China's saturated domestic markets can no longer reliably provide.
- The IPO lands at a moment of reckoning for the entire sector, forcing investors to judge whether this is a turnaround story or a well-packaged retreat.
Kaifeng Millennium City Park, based in central China's Henan province, has filed to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange — bringing one of the country's more unusual cultural attractions into the scrutiny of public markets. The park's centerpiece is a physical recreation of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a celebrated 12th-century scroll depicting the vivid street life of a Northern Song dynasty city. Visitors can walk through reconstructed lanes and buildings drawn from nearly a millennium ago.
The IPO application arrives during a visible cooling of China's theme park industry. Despite the sector growing to 90 large and super-large parks in 2024 — five more than the year before — visitor attendance fell 1.76% year-on-year and overall revenue declined 3.74%. Expansion of supply has not brought expansion of audiences.
The company's own numbers mirror this industry fatigue. Revenue reached 746 million yuan in 2025, a gain of just 0.6%, while net profit fell sharply by 23.7% to 212 million yuan. The park remains profitable, but the direction is unmistakable.
Seeking a Hong Kong listing fits a broader pattern of mainland non-technology companies looking beyond domestic markets as consumer spending softens and home exchanges grow crowded. For Kaifeng Millennium City Park, the prospectus is both a capital-raising tool and an argument to investors that a culturally singular attraction with an established revenue base can find its footing again — even as the wider industry asks the same question of itself.
Kaifeng Millennium City Park, a theme park operator in central China's Henan province, has filed to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company's main attraction is a sprawling, life-size recreation of one of China's most celebrated paintings—a 12th-century scroll called Along the River During the Qingming Festival, which depicts the bustle of a Northern Song dynasty city. The park brings that historical scene to physical life, allowing visitors to walk through reconstructed streets and buildings from nearly a thousand years ago.
The timing of the IPO application, submitted to Hong Kong regulators on Monday, comes as China's theme park sector faces a visible slowdown. According to research from the Institute for Theme Park Studies in China, the country had 90 large and super-large theme parks operating in 2024, an increase of five from the previous year. Yet despite this expansion, the numbers tell a different story. Visitor attendance dropped 1.76 percent year-on-year, and overall sector revenue fell 3.74 percent. The growth in park count, in other words, has not translated into more people coming through the gates or spending more money.
Kaifeng Millennium City Park's own financial performance reflects this broader weakness. Last year, the company's operating revenue grew just 0.6 percent, reaching 746 million yuan, or roughly 110 million U.S. dollars. More concerning, net profit declined sharply—down 23.7 percent to 212 million yuan. The company is profitable, but the trajectory is unmistakably downward. Revenue growth that barely registers as growth, combined with profit erosion, suggests the park is struggling to maintain momentum even as it operates one of China's most distinctive attractions.
The decision to pursue a Hong Kong listing reflects a broader pattern among mainland Chinese companies seeking capital outside their home market. As China's domestic stock markets face saturation and consumer spending shows signs of softening, non-technology companies are increasingly looking to Hong Kong as an alternative venue for raising funds. The move also signals management's confidence that despite current headwinds, the company has a story to tell investors—a historical theme park with a unique cultural draw and an established revenue base.
Yet the IPO comes at a moment when the entire sector is being tested. The question facing potential investors is whether Kaifeng Millennium City Park can reverse its profit decline and reignite visitor growth, or whether it is simply one more operator caught in an industry-wide contraction. The prospectus filed with Hong Kong regulators will provide more detail on the company's strategy and financial position, but the basic challenge is clear: the Chinese theme park market is no longer expanding at the pace it once was, and operators must now compete harder for a shrinking pool of discretionary spending.
Notable Quotes
The company's Millennium City Park in Kaifeng, Henan province, offers a physical, life-size recreation of Along the River During the Qingming Festival— Company prospectus filed to Hong Kong stock exchange
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would a theme park file for an IPO right now, when the whole sector is shrinking?
Because they need capital to survive the contraction. Profit fell nearly a quarter last year. Hong Kong offers access to international investors who might still believe in the long-term story—a unique cultural asset, a proven revenue stream—even if the near term looks soft.
Is the park itself the problem, or is it the sector?
Both. The sector added five new parks in 2024 but lost visitors overall. That's oversupply meeting weakening demand. Kaifeng's revenue barely grew. They're not losing ground faster than peers, but they're not gaining either.
What makes this park different from a Six Flags or a Disney?
It's rooted in a specific cultural artifact—a 900-year-old painting that's iconic in China. That's the draw. But a painting, no matter how famous, can only sustain so much foot traffic. The novelty fades.
So the IPO is a bet that international money will value the cultural angle?
Partly. But it's also a practical move. They need cash to operate, and Hong Kong is where mainland companies go when domestic capital is tight. Whether investors bite depends on whether they think the park can stabilize or grow again.
What would have to change for that to happen?
Consumer spending would need to pick up, or the park would need to innovate—new attractions, experiences that draw repeat visitors. Right now, it's coasting on what it has.