A non-government Japanese foundation resumed funding of bamboo planting in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Saturday after a two-year suspension.

The Japan-Sino Green Exchange Foundation donated 6.5 million Japanese yen (63,200 U.S.dollars) to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for planting 10 hectares of bamboos.

It is the third donation from the organization, established eight years ago to assist China's environment protection, which donated the same amount of money for growing bamboos in 2004 and 2005, repetitively.

"We want to help pandas eat better and live better in their hometown of Sichuan with our continuous efforts," Yamada Tatsuo, a renowned Japanese professor on Chinese studies, said at the donation ceremony on behalf of the donator.

He expressed his gratitude to Chinese President Hu Jintao, who promised during his recent visit to Japan to lease a pair of pandas to the country for joint research.

A male adult panda consumes more than 30 kilograms of bamboo every day. It costs about 60,000 yuan (8,500 U.S. dollars) to provide food for an adult panda each year, according to Tan Hongming, a senior Chinese expert at the base.

"Thanks to the help from both home and abroad, giant pandas can enjoy their lives in China," said Tan.

Giant pandas are one of the world's rarest animals, with about 1,600 living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces.

(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2008)