China has artificially bred 12 giant pandas so far this year, according to sources with the China Giant Panda Breeding Technology Committee based in Sichuan Province, southwest China.

Zhang Anju, director of the committee, said Friday there are five pairs of twins among the newly-born panda babies and three more pregnant pandas are expected to give birth soon.

The situation is encouraging, he said and attributed the success to the efforts of Chinese scientists who have overcome three main hurdles in raising pandas -- matching, pregnancy and feeding.

In the past four years, China has artificially bred 66 giant pandas, and 52 of them have survived.

The giant panda has been listed as one of the most endangered wild animals in the world. Experts estimate that there are only about 1,000 giant pandas living in the wild, mainly in the mountains around Sichuan, one of the major habitats of giant pandas.

(eastday.com October 27, 2001)