China plans to send a giant panda couple on lease to a zoo in Spain in an apparent bid to stabilize relations with European nations.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency says that the male and female giant pandas, both born in 2020, have been kept at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province.
Xinhua says the two are expected to leave Chengdu for a zoo in Spain's capital, Madrid, on Monday.
The research institution has posted a video on social media showing how the pandas have been living in Chengdu.
Another giant panda couple is set to be leased to a zoo in the US city of San Francisco next year.
The Chinese foreign ministry says it has been actively engaged in discussions on possible leases of the rare animal to multiple zoos in the United States and Austria.
China has leased giant pandas to other nations as a symbol of friendship and a tool to deepen bilateral relations in so-called "panda diplomacy."
In recent years, giant pandas in the US, Britain and Japan have returned to China.
Observers say China's worsening relations with those countries may have resulted in talks stalling on new leases for the pandas.
They say China is apparently aiming to use panda diplomacy to stabilize relations with the US and the European Union, which is trying to reduce its excess dependency on the Chinese economy.