The Legoland Shanghai Resort has now obtained all licenses required for its construction, which marks the official start of the construction stage of the theme park project, according to official sources.

The future resort will consist of a Lego theme park and 250-room themed hotel.

It is expected to receive more than 3 million passenger trips annually by its completion, the official WeChat account of the Shanghai municipal government reported on Friday.

More than half of the resort's civil engineering work will be completed by the end of the year, with some landmark buildings topping out, it added.

Taking up an area of 318,000 square meters, the Legoland Shanghai Resort will be located in the southwestern outskirts of Shanghai's Jinshan district, and it is expected to open to visitors in 2024.

The Legoland Shanghai Resort is being jointly developed by the Shanghai Jinshan Urban Construction Investment Group, the UK's Merlin Entertainments Group, KIRKBI, which owns 75 percent of The LEGO Group, and the Chinese media and entertainment group CMC Inc.