All of the songs and script will be translated into Chinese, with Treagus, Garrington and their UK team assisting CAEG in building and training a crew and selecting the cast. A three-round audition process will be held in August, November and January.

Co-producer of the Chinese version, Tian Yuan, said that casting is crucial to the show's success.

"It comes down to the people who you work with," added Garrington. "Finding the right cast is fundamental, if you get a group of talented and creative people they will teach me what the production will be."

"These people need to be triple talented, they need to be able to act, sing and dance, more importantly you need to add a special ingredient, what we call the 'MAMMA MIA! factor,' a great sense of humor and the ability of communicating the joy of life, that's the heart of our musical."

Tian said that cooperating with the UK team will enable the industry to build strong foundations and allow her team to learn how to make first class productions step by step.

"We would like to continue our efforts for the musical industry by firstly bringing international productions, then introducing Chinese language versions of Western works and then create original works," Zhang said.

"It is an interesting time to develop commercial entertainment here in China and the cultural industry is changing here, I think developing the musical industry, the timing is right," commented David Lightbody, executive producer of MAMMA MIA! in China.

"It is a very exciting thing that the Chinese musical industry will not be copy of London or New York, or of any other country, it will be very interesting to see how its characteristics develop over the next 10 years, a very unique, Chinese industry."

CAEG's production is MAMMA MIA!'s 13th foreign language version and is expected to open in June next year. The licensing agreement runs for five years and covers the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as Singapore. Nationwide tours are scheduled to start in the second half of 2011.

The first tour, which could last up to a year, will cover first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The second tour, scheduled for second-tier cities on the mainland and in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Singapore, may last for as long as three to five years, according to the organizers.