Zhou Xun suggests names for UNDP Pambassadors

Print E-mail China.org.cn, May 19, 2016
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Famous Chinese actress Zhou Xun joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s global naming campaign for its Pambassadors.

Famous Chinese actress Zhou Xun feeds the eight-month-old twin panda cubs bamboo shoots at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province on May 15, 2016. [File photo] 

Zhou, who is the UNDP China National Goodwill Ambassador, on Sunday met the organization's first-ever Animal Goodwill Ambassadors, a pair of twin panda cubs, at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province.

Zhou offered her name suggestions for the pair: Pangpang and Dada which sound like the English word "panda" when put together, and Jianguo and Jianhua which mean "Building the country" and "Building China" in Chinese.

Zhou's efforts are aimed to engage more people in the UNDP's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as pandas are unofficial ambassadors for the environment and many issues they are faced with are closely related to the UNDP's Global Goals.

In January, the UNDP launched a global naming campaign for the twin cubs born in September 2015 to Qinghe, a 14-year-old female panda, and began to search Panda Envoys.

So far, more than 900 name suggestions for the pair and video applications for being the UNDP Panda Envoys have been received.

Prior to July 13, panda fans across the world can take a 10-second-long micro video at 25 zoos with the official advertising poster in the world, post the video on Weibo, Facebook or other social networking sites and then submit the video URL via the campaign website as participants of the global recruiting of UNDP Panda Envoys.

The names for the pair will be announed at the end of July, and 17 Panda Envoys will stand out in August. They will travel to Chengdu to celebrate the pair's first year birthday in September, serve as panda care-takers and learn more about panda conservation.

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