Panda gift marks handover anniversary

Adorable ambassador: US-born giant panda Bei Bei eating in its enclosure at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Ya’an, Sichuan province. China has been using so-called ‘panda diplomacy’ since 1972, when the first animals were sent to the United States in 1972 as a gift. — AFP

China will gift a pair of giant pandas to Hong Kong as the finance hub marked its 27th year under Chinese rule, city leader John Lee announced.

The former British colony was handed over to China in 1997 under a “One Country, Two Systems” governance model, which guaranteed key freedoms and a high degree of autonomy.