This year, the Paradise Zoo in southern Belgium issued a communique saying that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the giant panda "Tianbao" will continue to live in Belgium this year.

Paradise Zoo has thus become one of the few overseas zoos that have 5 giant pandas at the same time.

The charmingly naive giant panda, a national treasure of China, is also a "friendly envoy" that symbolizes the friendship between the Chinese people and the Belgian people. The Giant Panda first appeared in Belgium began in 1987. Back then, two giant pandas stayed in Belgium for several months, causing a sensation.

In February 2014, giant pandas "Xinghui" and "Hahao" came to Belgium as friendly envoys, and now they have become a "five-member family". The ever-growing giant panda family not only witnesses the friendship between the two peoples but also writes a good story about the cooperation between the two sides in biodiversity protection.

In order to welcome the arrival of giant pandas, Paradise Zoo has built a panda garden with an area of about 5,300 square meters, simulating the landforms of Sichuan, to create a localized environment.

The zoo also sent people to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda to learn breeding management techniques and concentrate on feed production and get familiar with the tempers and personalities of the two giant pandas. China also sent two breeders to assist in the work.

Giant panda breeding is a worldwide problem. Thanks to the joint efforts of the two countries, giant pandas have given birth to offspring in Belgium and continue to reproduce.

In February 2016, Chinese experts, including the deputy director of the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center, assisted Belgium in an emergency, and together with the panda breeding team of Paradise Zoo and experts from the Veterinary Hospital of Ghent University in Belgium, helped "Xinghui" and "Hao Hao" give birth. In June 2016, "Haohao" gave birth to a male cub "Tianbao", which means "a treasure bestowed by heaven" in Belgium.

In April 2019, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda sent experts to Paradise Zoo to artificially inseminate Haohao twice. In August 2019, "Ha Hao" successfully gave birth to giant panda twins "Bao Di" and "Bao Mei". The 2019 Global Giant Panda Awards awarded the gold medal of "Annual Panda Cub Award" to "Bao Di" and "Bao Mei".

For more than 8 years, thanks to good communication and close cooperation between the Paradise Zoo team and the Chinese expert team, the two sides have promoted the protection and breeding of giant pandas and the feeding and management of their cubs, health monitoring, personnel training, scientific research, and public education, etc.

Fruitful results have been achieved, and beneficial cooperative explorations have been carried out in the protection of endangered species and biodiversity.

On August 6, 2022, the Chinese Embassy in Belgium and Paradise Zoo jointly held the "Thousand Days of Joy" event to celebrate the 3rd birthday of giant pandas "Bao Di" and "Bao Mei".

On the same day, the Chinese Ambassador to Belgium introduced to the guest's China's important measures to protect biodiversity by announcing the official establishment of the first batch of five national parks, including the Giant Panda National Park.

Leclerc, the governor of the Belgian province of Hainaut who attended the event, spoke highly of China's outstanding achievements in animal and plant protection in his speech. Leclerc expressed the hope that the two countries will continue to join hands in biodiversity conservation and jointly contribute to the improvement of human well-being.