A giant panda expert has called for more international cooperation Monday in the experimental program of releasing captive giant pandas and protecting them in their natural habitat.

During group discussions at the ongoing fourth session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), NPC deputy Zhang Anju, director of the Giant Panda Breeding Technology Committee of China, disclosed that the Chengdu Municipal government plans to open an area before 2003 as a transitional zone for captive giant pandas to adapt to their original natural habitat and at the same time start the plantation of bamboo bushes to provide food for giant pandas in Sichuan, home to most of the 1,000 wild giant pandas found exclusively in China.

He said that the Chengdu Giant Panda Breading Research Center will become a high-level center for the research and protection of rare and endangered species of animals in the their natural habitats in the coming decade.

He said that the plans of Chengdu city will provide vast opportunities for cooperation with foreign countries.

A national demonstrative project for the research and protection of giant pandas in their natural habitat, and Chengdu's demonstrative project for protecting the rare animal in the wild instead of in captivity have all been listed as priority projects of China's Agenda 21st, Zhang.

A number of research projects have been launched between zoos in Beijing and Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, and their counterparts in Atlanta and San Diego, the United States, and those in Britain and Japan.

Giant panda has been listed as the top 10 most endangered wild animals in the world, due to its low propagating capability, shrinking habitats and poor harvest of a kind of bamboo, a particular food for the animal.

(People’s Daily 03/12/2001)