China Saturday started construction of a center in southwestern China's Sichuan Province to train giant pandas born in captivity to live in the wild.

The center is located at Majiagou of Yutang Town, Dujiangyan City, said Zhang Zhihe, head of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base and founder of the center.

The center covers an area of 134.87 hectares and will cost 160 million yuan (US$23.5 million).

After the center is completed, the breeding and research base will put 40 to 50 giant pandas raised in captivity into the center for training and research, according to Zhang.

The center will cooperate with the Chengdu breeding and research base, the Wolong Giant Panda Conservation Base, the Dujiangyan Disease Control and Prevention Center for Giant Pandas and the Shaanxi Rescue Center for Endangered Animals.

In the experimental zone of the center being built, the giant pandas will be trained to reduce their dependency on humans. But they will still live in cages.

After five to 10 years training in the experimental zone, the giant pandas that perform well will be introduced into the "half-natural" zone.

In the following five to 10 years, the pandas there will live in tree holes or caves and forage for food. But they will still receive frequent checkups and participate in artificial breeding.

Then, only one or two of the giant pandas will have the chance to spend another five to 10 years in a nearly "natural" zone with little human contact. Then they will be released into the nearby giant panda natural reserve, Zhang said.

Giant pandas are the world's most endangered species. Some 1,590 panda live in the wild and over 300 pandas are in captivity in China, Zhang said.

China started a giant panda training project in 2003 to teach the animals to live in the wild. But the project suffered a major setback when Xiang Xiang, a five-year-old male panda, was found dead in a remote part of the Wolong Nature Reserve in February 2007.

Xiang Xiang was released into the wild in April 2006 after nearly three years of training.