Chinese theme park operator OCT Group has announced a new partnership with Legacy Entertainment, which will see the creation of a ninth Happy Valley theme park in Zhengzhou.

OCT's Happy Valley brand currently has seven theme parks in its portfolio, with it's eighth, Happy Valley Nanjing, expected to open later this year. Since the company's flagship, Happy Valley Shenzhen, opened in 1998, the brand has experienced rapid growth with several parks opening in major cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Tianjin and Chongqing.

The announcement of Happy Valley Zhengzhou comes at a turbulent time for the China's tourism and theme park industries, with most tourism attractions temporarily closed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

"OCT's unflinching support of China's theme park and tourism industry is a testament to what made them so successful over the last two decades," said Taylor Jeffs, Legacy's president and chief creative officer.

"They have the beautiful audacity to look beyond the temporary setback of the next few months, and instead, toward the next generation of attractions within China's domestic theme park industry."