The picture taken on April 3, 2004 shows pregnant panda "Qizhen" at Chengdu Panda Artificial Reproduction Research Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

China achieved a historic success in the artificial propagation of pandas in 2004, with 10 pandas being pregnant as of April. The past three years have witnessed a steady growth in the number of newly-born pandas in China thanks to the artificial reproduction techniques applied at Chengdu Panda Artificial Reproduction Research Center and Wolong Panda Protection Center, also in Sichuan Province.

(People's Daily April 7, 2004)