资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

The Bank of China has pledged at least 10 billion yuan, or $1.5 billion, to create an enormous panda conservation park in the Sichuan province, the forestry ministry said last week.

The Bank of China has pledged at least 10 billion yuan, or $1.5 billion, to create an enormous panda conservation park in the Sichuan province, the forestry ministry announced March 8.

The Sichuan branch of the bank signed an agreement with the provincial government to finance the construction of the Giant Panda National Park by 2023. The goal is for the park to boost the local economy as well as provide the vulnerable animals with a space where they can meet and mate with other pandas.

The park will measure 2 million hectares (5 million acres), according to the ministry, more than twice the size of Yellowstone National Park, ABC News reported.

Giant pandas live mostly in the Sichuan mountains, with some present in the Gansu and Shaanxi provinces as well. An estimated 1,864 giant pandas live in the wild and another 300 live in captivity. They were reclassified from an endangered species to vulnerable in 2016 but remain threatened by habitat loss.