SHANGHAI, April 17 -- Shanghai Disney Resort will launch a recruitment drive aiming to offer jobs to several thousand Chinese college graduates next year, it announced on Thursday.

The company will run roadshows in the second half of the year at universities and colleges in Shanghai Municipality as well as Zhejiang, Anhui and Henan provinces.

Jobs on offer will include positions in the resort's food and beverage, merchandise, park and hotel operations.

"In the coming two years, the development of Shanghai Disney Resort will rapidly generate many great employment opportunities for Chinese talent at all levels," said Mike Crawford, general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort.

The Shanghai Disney Resort management company and its two owner companies have recruited 700 employees in the preparation and development phases of the planned Disney resort, which is slated to open in Pudong District of Shanghai in late 2015.

The first Disney resort in China's mainland, it will boast two theme hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue and an array of recreation facilities, and has been designed to incorporate Chinese design elements as well as Disneyland traditions.

The resort is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company and the Shanghai Shendi Group.