CMG and South Korea's Everlandresort launch giant panda project

China Media Group (CMG) and South Korea's Everland Resort, where China-leased giant pandas are currently staying, launched a new giant panda video project on Tuesday.

During the launch ceremony, the two sides exchanged a memorandum of understanding, in which CMG and Everland, South Korea's largest theme park, agreed to jointly set up a special session on CMG's panda channel called iPanda, that will focus on the giant pandas in South Korea.

Li Yi, director of CMG Asia Pacific, said during his speech that CMG will take advantage of its strength in multilingual broadcasting to let the giant panda be an important bridge for exchanges between civilizations and good faith between different people.

According to Li, the iPanda's livestreams have already garnered over 56 million active followers. 

Li said that Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea through natural breeding, will return to China next spring and that CMG will work closer with Everland to share Fu Bao's moments with fans via iPanda. 

Jeong Hai-lin, president & CEO of Samsung C & T, the resort group which operates the Everland resort, said in his speech that Fu Bao is deeply loved by the people in South Korea, and giant pandas connect the heart of the Chinese people with South Koreans. He also said that Fu Bao's positive energy is already enhancing the two countries' friendship. 

Jeong said that the two sides will share resources to produce programs that fans from both countries will enjoy.

In March 2016, giant panda pair Le Bao and Ai Bao arrived in Everland on a 15-year lease. Their child, Fu Bao, was born in July 2020. In July this year, Ai Bao gave birth to a pair of female twin pandas: Hui Bao and Rui Bao. 

All five giant pandas have Bao in their names, which means "treasure" in Chinese, earning the family the nickname of the Bao family. 

(Cover image via CFP)