CHENGDU, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A giant panda research base and a local government in southwest China's Sichuan Province signed a cooperation agreement Thursday to jointly work on research regarding releasing giant pandas into the wild after training.
The agreement was signed between the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and the government of Yingjing County, the city of Ya'an in Sichuan Province.
According to the agreement, the two sides will also strengthen cooperation on the construction of a giant panda national park and panda protection.
They will also cooperate on scientific research into panda reintroduction, and wild panda population monitoring in the Daxiangling Mountains to strengthen the construction of the Daxiangling panda release base.
The two sides will also work on raising local residents' awareness of environmental protection and poverty alleviation, and building a pilot area where man and nature coexist harmoniously.
The research base and the Yingjing County government began cooperation in giant panda protection and research in the Daxiangling Mountains in 2017. The release base was put into use and two pandas named Xingchen and Heyu started their wild training in the base in December 2018.
Progress has been made in building the release base and conducting panda reintroduction research, said Zhang Zhihe, director of the panda research base.
