By Damien Grammaticas BBC Hong Kong correspondent

A ceremony has been held in Hong Kong to mark the start of construction work on the first Disneyland theme park to be built in China.

Executives from the US based Walt Disney company and senior figures from Hong Kong's government took part in the event.

It is hoped the park will attract millions of visitors, most from elsewhere in China, to help revive Hong Kong's struggling economy.

But the project has been criticised by opposition parties and environmentalists.

Majority stake

At the groundbreaking ceremony, traditional Chinese lion dancers mixed with actors dressed as Walt Disney's cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse, Pluto the dog, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Mickey Mouse and Jackie Chan were at the groundbreaking ceremony

The head of the Walt Disney company, Michael Eisner, and Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa, helped dig the foundations for the park, which is due to be completed in 2006.

Hong Kong's Government is pumping more than $3bn into the project, which will give it a majority stake and a share of any profits.

It has reclaimed over 100 hectares of land from the sea for the theme park and its hotels.

Rival park

In effect, it is a huge gamble - with the aim of attracting five million visitors a year to the park, most from the newly affluent middle classes in China.

Park aims to attract five million visitors a year

But there has been criticism from opposition parties, who say the project is expensive and will not do enough to revive Hong Kong's depressed economy.

Many industries are being lost to mainland China, where costs are far cheaper.

They have also attacked the government because it failed to secure a pledge from the Disney company to make Hong Kong's park the only one in China.

Discussions are already under way to build a second Disneyland in the rival city of Shanghai.

Environmentalists have also protested that the land reclamation projection has damaged breeding grounds for fish and rare white dolphins.