Panda diplomacy on display as PM winds down state visit to China

Anthony Albanese has gotten a big dose of panda diplomacy in China, reconnecting with an Aussie favourite as he winds down his state visit.

In a display of when-in-Rome statesmanship, Anthony Albanese has visited one of the world’s biggest panda breeding centres on the final full day of his visit to China.

With 260 of the furry friends, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding houses one third of China’s total panda population in captivity — a source of pride for the city, with monuments to the bamboo-loving creatures scattered across the metropolis.

After a couple of days of high stakes, high-level talks in Beijing, the Prime Minister was all smiles when confronted with the centre’s occupants, including Fu Ni, who spent 15 years as a star attraction at Adelaide Zoo before being returned to China in November.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China, on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire/ Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer

Mr Albanese (pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping) was delighted to be at the facility, telling media he was “feeling the friendship” between Australia and China. (Huang Jingwen/Xinhua via AP)

He was also able to reconnect with Fu Ni, who spent 15 years at Adelaide Zoo before returning to China in November. Picture: Adrian Mann / ZoosSA

“They’re beautiful animals,” Mr Albanese remarked to his guide as he watched an adolescent panda snack on a bamboo shoot.

The visit to the research base came nearly 40 years after former prime minister Bob Hawke visited the same facility and secured Australia’s first panda lease.

It made Australia the first and only country in the Southern Hemisphere to have Chinese pandas.

A panda at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Picture: NewsWire / Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer

In brief comments to media, Mr Albanese said he was “feeling the friendship between Australia and China”.

“They are great ambassadors for China and a great sign of friendship,” he said.

“The fact that Adelaide Zoo has the only pandas in the Southern Hemisphere is a sign of friendship between our two countries.”

Mr Albanese lauded Chinese counterpart Li Qiang for deciding to lease another two pandas to Adelaide Zoo during his state visit to Australia last year.

The new pandas arrived at their new home earlier this year.

Mr Albanese has been keen to follow in the steps of past Labor legends on his trade-touting trip, visiting on Wednesday the same section of the Great Wall as Gough Whitlam did some 50 years ago.