Thirty-five giant pandas were born in captivity in China this year with 31 survivors, People's Daily reports Thursday.

The figure brought the total number of pandas born in captivity across China to 268, according to the Sate Forestry Administration.

"Despite the massive earthquake in May, China has achieved gratifying results in panda reproduction," said Cao Qingyao, a spokesman of the Administration.

Of the 31 newborns, the Wolong and Chengdu panda breeding bases in southwestern Sichuan Province contributed 13 and 16 respectively, while the base in its neighbouring Shaanxi province bred two.

Twenty-seven pandas born in captivity in China are living in zoos of the United States, Australia, Thailand and Spain, according to the Administration.

Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered animals. China has about 1,590 pandas living in wild, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2008)