Giant panda Saihin is exhibited outdoors for the last time before being returned to China at the theme park Adventure World in Shirahama Town, Wakayama Prefecture on May 25, 2025. Adventure World announced on April 24 that it will return all four giant pandas in captivity to China around the end of June. Photo: VCG

The giant pandas living in Japan have long been cherished by the Japanese public. Over the years, the two countries have engaged in extensive and positive cooperation in areas such as panda care, breeding, scientific research, technical exchanges and public education, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday in response to a question about the planned return of four giant pandas from Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, to China.

"Under the bilateral cooperation agreement between China and Japan, the giant panda Rauhin and her three cubs currently in Japan will return to China in June," Mao said. "We thank our Japanese partners for their dedicated care over the years and warmly welcome our Japanese friends to visit them in China," she said in response to a question about whether China would send new pandas to Japan.

Global Times