Panda garden

BERLIN: Chinese President Xi Jinping said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would jointly open a garden in the Berlin Zoo for the pair of giant pandas China had sent to Germany.

“I hope this pair of giant pandas… will serve as envoys of China-germany friendship,” he said.

“We need to… deepen co-operation in education, culture, science and technology, tourism, health, think tanks, media, football and other fields, implement visa-related and other facilitation measures and bring our two peoples closer to each other,” he said.

Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, the two pandas, are getting accustomed to their new environment quite fast, according to Yin Hong, a panda keeper who accompanied the pair from Chengdu to Berlin. The zoo is scheduled to hold an opening ceremony of the refurbished Panda Garden on Wednesday.

Meng Meng, which means “sweet dream”, is a 4-year-old female, while Jiao Qing, meaning darling, is a 7-year-old male.

They have been sent on a 15-year conservation and breeding programme.

“Obviously, they feel very good here. You can see them climbing around inside… You just have the feeling that they are not strangers,” said Andreas Ochs, a senior vet at the zoo. The pair are not the first pandas given or loaned to Germany.

The last panda Berlin had was Bao Bao, which was sent to Berlin in 1980 as a state gift from China. It died in 2012. The pandas “are envoys of the friendship between China and Germany”, said Ochs.

“We are very proud to be able to house the animals here, who are a symbol of the friendship between Germany and China.” – Xinhua