The Mondadori Group is exporting to China  in franchising the Focus Junior Play Lab format, the educational and play space for children aged from 3 to 11, developed  by the magazine that is a reference point in the world of kids.

The initiative is the result of an agreement signed with Chic Investment Group and a Memorandum of Understanding with Xi’an International Community Fashion Town Construction & Development Co.

For the first time Focus Junior will deliver, also at an international level, its educational offer and all of the know-how of the Italian brand that is the leader in its sector, in line with the philosophy that characterises the title: an “edutainment” approach, that aims to engage kids and stimulate their skills and capacities through the development of labs and activities to accompany them as they grow up.

The first three Focus Junior Play Labs will open up in China in 2020 in Xi’an, within the High Tech district of the Sino Italian Fashion Town, a new international complex that is being built around the ancient city of Xi’an, and in the cities of Nanjing, in the Kingmo shopping mall and Chongqing, in the Chic World Together shopping centre.

Through the Chic Investment Group, the management and investment company that is working to bring European brands of outstanding excellence to the entire country in the coming years, Focus Junior Play Lab will expand also to other cities in China, with the opening of 12 play labs in franchising within 3 years.

Focus Junior Play Lab will enhance the Asian market for services aimed at families: children and kids will be able to spend their time alternating between recreational activities and educational and learning projects aimed at stimulating manual dexterity, creativity and scientific thinking through numerous labs that will introduce them to topics related to science, art, mathematics and engineering in a fun, engaging and innovative way.

A result preceded by a series of institutional stages that took place in recent months: firstly, a meeting in China in November 2018, an event organised by the Italy-China Foundation at Palazzo Clerici in Milan and the visit of a delegation from the government of Xi’an to Palazzo Mondadori in Segrate in March this year. Cooperation activities in China will continue in the coming years with the introduction of new initiatives currently under development.

The new project is consistent with the objective of the Mondadori Group to  concentrate on its brand leaders with the best multi-platform development potential.

Focus Junior is a magazine dedicated to curious kids that is a brand extension of di Focus, the Mondadori Group magazine that is a point of reference in popular science and entertainment and is the nucleus of a multimedia system able to transform readers into authentic “inhabitants” of the world of Focus, right from the pre-school years. In print and on the web and social networks, and from a TV channels to events like Focus Live, organised around the country, the overall audience of the Focus system is around 6 million (Source: Nielsen MI assessment based on AW Mag 2019 figures, Audipress 2019.1).