France is poised to get a pair of pandas in 2027 as part of a new decade-long loan agreement finalised following President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day visit to China.
On Thursday, the China Wildlife Conservation Association announced it had agreed with France’s Beauval Zoo to extend their international cooperation on giant panda conservation with the aim of boosting Sino-French exchanges.
According to the group’s statement, the two giant pandas are expected to arrive at the zoo in Saint-Aignan in central France in 2027 for a 10-year cooperation period.
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In 2012, the Beauval Zoo welcomed pandas Huan Huan and Yuan Zi under a Sino-French cooperative research agreement.
The two 17-year-old pandas were returned to China last month because of Huan Huan’s chronic kidney disease, a common condition in bears around her age.
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On Friday, Brigitte Macron, France’s first lady, visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding after a tour of one of the world’s oldest and still functioning irrigation system in the city of Dujiangyan.