US national zoo holds housewarming event at giant panda house

"Giant pandas are China's national treasures," said Minister Xu Xueyuan, the Chinese embassy in the United States. "Although they are large in size, they are also charming, tolerant, and peace-loving, representing many values of China itself, and are loved by people all over the world."

"Giant pandas are also symbolic of the China-US friendship," she told a ceremony at the giant panda house.

The housewarming was jointly hosted by the zoo and the Chinese embassy.

Giant pandas live mainly in southwest China's Sichuan Province as well as neighboring Shaanxi and Gansu.

The latest census in 2014 found there were 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild. The number of pandas bred in captivity reached 548 globally as of November, 2018, according to China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

At the zoo's David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat currently live three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their three-year-old son, Bei Bei.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is one of Washington DC's most popular tourist destinations and is part of the Smithsonian Institution, a world-renowned museum and research complex.