Local authorities and the Walt Disney Company have reached an agreement on major issues behind the building of the first Disneyland theme park on the Chinese mainland, Shanghai mayor Han Zheng said over the weekend.

"The municipal government started thinking of a Shanghai Disneyland more than a decade ago," Han said at a press conference after the closing ceremony of the annual session of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on Saturday.

"A team from Shanghai has been in contact with Disney since then and constant and pragmatic discussions have been held," he said.

"An agreement was reached recently. But the State Council has the final say on the project and we will make arrangements according to its decision," Han said.

Rumors of a Disney theme park in Shanghai have been circulating for years but neither of the two sides had confirmed it until recently.

On Jan 9, Disney told The Wall Street Journal in an e-mail it had worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government, which would soon be submitted to the central government for review.