GIANT PANDA NATIONAL TREASURE OF CHINA AND TREASURE FOR ALL HUMANITY

CHENGDU, NOVEMBER 4 /SRNA/ – China currently has 830 giant pandas in captivity and has established conservation partnerships with 26 institutions in 20 countries, said Li Yunqing, a member of the Party leadership group and deputy administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The Global Panda Partners 2026 Conference in the Chinese city of Chengdu heard that the giant panda is a national treasure of China and a shared wealth of humanity, as well as a symbol of friendship that connects people around the world.

Participants said protecting giant pandas, preserving natural habitats and biodiversity, and balancing economic development with environmental protection require closer international cooperation and joint action.

Li said the giant panda's reclassification from endangered to vulnerable is a clear sign that decades of conservation efforts have paid off.

He said Giant Panda National Park, which marks its fifth anniversary this year, has achieved significant results in protecting the species, restoring habitats and advancing scientific research.

By linking natural habitats and building ecological corridors, 13 local giant panda populations have been reconnected, and more than 150 sightings by pandas and other animals have been recorded in the corridor areas, he said.

A total of 69 pandas have lived abroad, where 73 cubs from 45 litters have been successfully raised.

Lu Yansong, editor-in-chief and deputy secretary of the Party leadership group of the Xinhua news agency, said panda conservation is one of the best-known examples of China's success in protecting endangered species and putting the concept of ecological civilization into practice.

He noted that the Global Panda Partners Conference was launched in 2020 and has become an important platform for sharing experience and international cooperation in nature conservation.

He said pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang arrived in Atlanta in the United States from Chengdu about a month ago, where they will stay under a ten-year cooperation program.

"Through panda stories, we want to present China's experience and knowledge to the world and build a wider circle of partners in global environmental governance," Lu said.

He also announced the publication of a report by Xinhua's research center on China's green development, which examines how to align economic development with environmental protection, and stressed the importance of presenting China's experience to an international audience.

Shi Xiaolin, deputy secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the province has made significant progress in environmental protection.

Shi, who is also governor of Sichuan province, said water quality has been among the best in China for three years in a row, while air quality has reached its best level in 20 years.

She said installed hydropower capacity exceeds 100 million kilowatts, while non-fossil sources account for more than 40 percent of total energy consumption.

She warned that global warming, increasingly frequent extreme weather and habitat degradation pose serious challenges to biodiversity and ecosystem stability, making it necessary to improve global environmental governance.

"We see the panda as a link between people and nations, and ecology as a bridge for cooperation," Shi said. She added that the province will continue to restore natural habitats, protect rare and endangered species, improve ecological corridors and develop green industries, using digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

The Global Panda Partners 2026 Conference, held from Monday, November 2, until today, brought together Chinese and international officials, representatives of institutions, scientists, experts and partners from various countries to boost cooperation in giant panda protection, biodiversity conservation and the development of ecological civilization.