A base to study wild giant pandas is expected to be established in a nature reserve in northwestern China's Shaanxi Province, the administration of the key wild habitat of the endangered animal has said.

A meeting was held recently to discuss the design and feasibility of the research base, which is scheduled to be set up in the Foping Nature Reserve of the Qinling Mountains in northwestern China, one of the country's major observation bases for wild life and plants.

Construction of the base is set to start next year.

With the help of the State Forestry Administration and the Animals Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the research base will focus on the study of giant panda habitat changes, migration and reproduction.

It is expected that the effort will help promote their natural growth in the wild and China's continuous endeavor of raising them in captivity.

The Foping Nature Reserve boasts approximately 100 pandas living in the wild, or some 35 percent of the total in the Qinling mountainous region.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2005)