Zhang Yu, president of CAEG, and Andrew Treagus, "Mamma Mia!" international executive producer, sign the licensing agreement for "Mamma Mia!" China during a press conference held in Beijing on June 2, 2010. (Photo: CRIENGLISH.com)

The global smash-hit musical "Mamma Mia!" will be produced in Chinese, marking a major milestone in the development of the musical industry in China, now that China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) has signed a production agreement with Littlestar, a European musical production company.

CAEG, which promotes Chinese-language productions of musical theatre masterpieces, signed the licensing agreement at a ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday (June 2, 2010), and is now set to produce "Mamma Mia!" 13th foreign-language version, following its original English.

Zhang Yu, president of CAEG, said "Mamma Mia!" will be the first worldwide musical masterpiece to be produced in Chinese because more than 42 million people in over 240 cities across North America have already seen the show, and it made a splash with a 2007 staging in Shanghai and Beijing.

"It combines a funny plot, magical music and the humane theme about love in the form of comedy. It has attracted millions of people around the world, thus I believe Chinese audiences will like it."

In addition, Zhang said it will not only give Chinese audiences an excellent show, but also bring advanced techniques and experience from abroad.