Crain's New York Business reports that Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment is planning to announce next week that it is forming a company that will tour Broadway shows around China, beginning with a tour of 42nd Street, which will kick off in Shanghai in September. The company will also provide theatre marketing. Many big Broadway producers are moving into China these days, including Disney, which put up The Lion King for a successful run in Shanghai last summer.

Another major force is Broadway Asia, founded by Simone Genatt and Marc Routh, which is teaming on 42nd Street. Broadway Asia has been producing shows throughout the continent for many years but just recently opened an office in Shanghai. In December 2006, the company produced a Chinese-language version of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change in Shanghai, the first Chinese-language production of a Western musical in China since at least the 1980s (productions are typically in English with surtitles).

The Chinese government is welcoming the Broadway shows by building 25 new theatres. The new Nederlander venture is helping to design some of them.