To rent each giant panda, an annual fee of $1 million must be paid to China. Since the 1950s, China’s “panda diplomacy” had been based on a purely gratuitous gift model, without any commercial ties or rental arrangements. However, in 1982, the Chinese government announced that it would stop sending giant pandas abroad as gifts and instead adopt a model of renting selected pandas to other countries for exhibitions. Typically, the rental fee for each giant panda is $1 million per year, and the rental period is generally 10 years, with the option to extend the lease upon expiration.
Additionally, if a zoo wishes to qualify for importing pandas, it must first develop a research plan that benefits wild pandas and assist in funding China’s domestic panda conservation projects. Zoos invest heavily in building luxurious panda enclosures to prove their ability to care for the animals. For instance, Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand constructed a 600-square-meter snow-themed habitat with artificial snowfall to maintain temperatures of -6 to -7°C, making the pandas feel at home. San Diego Zoo in the U.S. spent $5 million to build a special facility for a pair of giant pandas. In Beauval, France, the receiving party even built a dedicated manure recycling pool for the pandas, with an investment of $3 million for this single feature.
Currently, China retains ownership of all giant pandas living outside the Chinese mainland. According to the cooperation agreements, the ownership of the exhibition pandas always remains with China, and if a panda dies, its remains also belong to China. If a panda gives birth to cubs during the rental period, the ownership of the cubs remains with China, and the renting party must pay an additional $600,000 per cub to China, with the cubs required to return to China for breeding after they turn three years old. In recent years, due to effective implementation of habitat protection measures, both wild and captive giant panda populations have been increasing.