Giant pandas have been serving as successful cultural ambassadors bridging China and other countries. People around the world host pandas out of passion for the tubby bears.

In 20 centry, China's "Panda diplomacy" started from 1950s. From 1957 to 1982, China presented 23 pandas as gifts to nine countries, including the former Soviet Union, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Federal Republic of Germany (former), Mexico, and Spain.

China stopped offering pandas as gifts to foreign countries amid a sharp decline in the panda population in the early 1980s. It set up a loan system in 1984 under which foreign zoos can house pairs of bears in the captive breeding program. Pandas are now leased out for joint research.

The Guangzhou-based Southern Weekend reported China usually gets US$ 1 million annually in fees from each loaned panda. The State Forestry Administration promises to use 60 percent of the funds received for wild panda protection and 40 percent for research on pandas raised in captivity.

Currently, besides China, there are about 40 pandas living in eight oversea countries. Singapore and UK will be the next two countries in have pandas in their zoos.

In addition, China gave four pairs of panda as gifts to China's Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.

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