Officials said the city will further promote its unique and extensive cultural activities involving the giant panda and the development of its associated tourism industry, to strengthen its position as a cultural and creative hub in western China.

In ancient times, the habitats of the giant panda were mainly distributed in China's mid-westerm provinces, but in Sichuan, the number of pandas is the largest.

A new giant panda-themed park, named the Sino-France Chengdu Giant Panda Ecological and Creative Industrial Park, will be built in Chengdu to expand the provincial capital's panda operations even further.

French scientific and educational institution Deyrolle, the Chengdu Culture & Tourism Development Group and Guangdong Fangsuo Cultural Investment and Development Co have partnered to build and operate the park, according to a cooperation framework agreement signed in early 2018.

The park neighbors the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, one of the most important giant panda research centers in China, and will cover some 350 hectares.

Upon completion, it will focus on developing panda-related media products, supporting giant panda breeding, providing education and training services and promoting panda culture tourism. It will also develop giant panda-related intellectual properties resources.

According to a plan, the first stage of the park will encompass eight centers, including an interactive museum for the natural sciences and the arts, an intellectual property research and development center for the giant panda and an agriculture center and educational center for sustainable development.

Deyrolle and its owner, Louis Albert de Broglie, will be responsible for designing the eight centers. The facility is set to be completed in 2021.

"The project will mobilize knowhow from companies and institutions in France and China, to raise public awareness about the importance of protecting nature and the need to protect biodiversity," Broglie said.

The facility will be the only panda-themed park in the world that focuses on promoting the relationship between man and nature, the sciences and arts, entertainment and education, life and the green biology industry, according to tourism officials.