The giant panda is loved worldwide for its unique image and meek temperament. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) used the image of the giant panda as its logo from its founding in 1961. In 1989, the former Chinese Ministry of Forestry (the present Chinese Forestry Administration) and the renamed World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) formulated the long-term Giant Panda Management Plan.
People all over the world hope that giant pandas can continue to co-exist with humans. To better preserve the common treasure of the world by the efforts of scientists around the world, the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) and China Zoological Association reached an agreement with the Agency of International Wildlife Conservation to loan giant pandas in pairs to overseas countries for 10 years for cooperative research with Chinese staff of science in the 1990?s. At the same time, the CWCA was appointed as the agency to conduct cooperation with foreign equivalent units for the scientific research. Most scientific research cooperation projects have been taken in hand by the CWCA.
Among all the pairs of giant pandas sent overseas since the 1990s, a pair in the San Diego Zoo produced a baby on August 21, 1999. Mr. Li Zhaoxing, former Chinese Ambassador in United States, named it as ?Hua Mei? meaning China-America. It played a critical role in improving relations between China and United States. In December 2000, the giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived at the Washington National Zoo. Mei Xiang, two and a half years old, a female whose name means "beautiful fragrance," and Tian Tian, three and a half years old, a male whose name means "more and more," were taken to the zoo on a Federal Express flight dubbed "Panda One." Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were born at the Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, in south China?s Sichuan Province. Under a deal meant to foster conservation, the center will loan the pandas to the zoo for 10 years for US$10 million.
