On November 16th, Ambassador Deng Ying and Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen Attended the Foundation Laying Ceremony for the Panda House in Copenhagen Zoo. Chairman of the Zoo Board Jørgen A. Horwitz, Permanent Under-Secretary of State Michael Starbæk Christensen, Director General Eric Laursen of Department Asia, Latin America and Oceania, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting CEO of the Zoo Jørgen Nielsen, designers of the panda house and representatives of the 16 Sponsors were also present.
Prime Minister Mr. Rasmussen noted in his speech that Denmark renting two giant pandas from China was an important consensus reached between H.M. Queen Margaret II and H.E.President Xi Jinping during Her Majesty’s visit to China in 2014. He recalled with pleasure his official visit in China this May and the pleasant time he spent with the pandas. Mr. Rasmussen stressed the collaborative protection and research of giant pandas illustrates the friendship between Denmark and China. He thanked all the parties concerned for their the contributions to the construction of the panda house and highly appreciated the effective communication and coordination between Chinese Embassy in Denmark and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. He himself and the Danish people very much looked forward to the arrival of giant pandas.
Ambassador Deng expressed her warm congratulations on the foundation laying of the panda house in Copenhagen Zoo. She noted the collaborative protection and research of giant pandas was the highlight of China-Denmark relations and important consensus reached by H.E.President Xi Jinping and H.M. Queen Margaret II’s during her state visit in 2014. She highly commended and sincerely thanked the contributions made by Prime Minister Mr. Rasmussen and Danish friends from all walks of life. As China and Denmark usher in the 10th anniversary of establishment of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership next year, the smooth progress of Giant Panda Protection and Research Cooperation will contribute to the continuous deepening the friendly relationship between the two countries. Ambassador Deng looks forward by heart to giant pandas’ arrival in Denmark as messengers of friendship between the two peoples.
Bjarke Ingels, architect and founding partner of BIG, introduced their design for panda house and expected the arrival of pandas.
Afterwards, Ambassador Deng and Prime Minister Mr. Rasmussen layed the foundation for the panda house together. They handed out the panda bears and Chinese knots to the kids present.
The ring-shaped panda house, occupying 2450 square meters. The design featuring ‘Yin and Yang’ was inspired by traditional Chinese culture. The construction would incorporate outdoor and indoor activity areas, restaurant area, at an estimated cost of 150 million DKK.
