China's panda breeding hits record in 2013

(CNS photo)

A total of 49 panda cubs were born in China this year, with 42 surviving, marking a record for giant panda breeding in the country, according to experts at an international panda protection conference on Thursday in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The number of captive-bred pandas in China this year has doubled the number from last year, said Zhang Hemin, director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, at the ongoing International Symposium on Giant Panda Conservation Conference, which is scheduled to be held in Chengdu City from Nov. 7 to 12.

According to a report released in November 2012 by the Committee of Giant Panda Breeding Techniques, 28 giant panda cubs were born in 2012, and 20 of them have survived.

With the development of breeding technology, the number of captive-bred giant pandas around the world has risen to 376 in 2013 from 341 last year, an increase of 10.3 percent, according to Zhang.

China will gradually increase the number of captive-bred pandas and continue research on releasing them to the wild, Zhang said.

The conference, sponsored by the State Forestry Administration, has attracted about 200 representatives from over a dozen countries' zoos, government departments, embassies in China, and China's panda protection organizations to discuss issues concerning giant panda protection.