More rumors about the Disney theme park slated for Shanghai came out in the Shanghai Securities News today. According to an “unnamed inside source", the park will be built in the Chuansha area of Pudong district in Shanghai.

The fresh round of rumor comes after the newspaper reported earlier this month that Shanghai mayor Han Zheng had confirmed - yes, CONFIRMED - the city had lodged an application with the National Development and Reform Commission to build the tourist attraction. In the story, Han identified a 375 square kilometre area set aside in Pudong for the development of the tourism sector as the preferred location, but Chongming Island was also rumored as a possibility.

In today's story, the one source the newspaper could actually name didn’t seem to be up to speed. Alannah Hall Smith, the vice president of PR at Walt Disney Asia Pacific, said the company had not reached any agreement with Shanghai.

Perhaps its not so much a case of build it and they will come but rather a case of build it and our “partner” will agree to it.

It could be that the story was positioned with the media by the government to raise pressure on Disney to ink a deal, although it is just as likely Hall Smith is keeping her cards close to her chest or hasn't had the clearance to announce the project yet. No doubt if it is announced it will be with great fanfare.

Regardless, I wish officials in China would be more willing to go on the record. Free markets need transparency, but the current relationship between media and officials makes it way to easy for authorities to backtrack and hum and haw on decisions, or use the media to influence the market. It is the market and, ultimately, China itself that are the big losers here.

While this hardly appears the issue to cry foul over, the fact that it is seemingly one of the less controversial issues facing China today makes you think it would be a good time to test drive transparency with the media - and with the market. Given the mayor himself has already made a public announcement, what harm is there in following up with more public statements that can be sourced to the government itself.

Newspapers should also be less willing to quote unnamed sources on stories like these - how are the readers expected to be confident the source really is an "inside" one rather than a property speculator trying to ratchet up prices in Chuansha.

The up-shot is I am left wondering what is really going on. Then again, Disney is supposed to be a place where the imagination can run wild, so here's to the Shanghai Securities News for playing its part in the maintenance of the fantasy land for investors that is modern Shanghai.