Japanese retailing giant Aeon has donated JPY25 million through the Chinese Embassy in Japan for the protection of the giant pandas in Wolong, Sichuan.

Of the donation funds, JPY11.59 million was raised from a panda protection campaign run by each of Aeon's retail stores in Japan at the end of last year and the remainder was donated by Aeon Group.

Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to Japan, has expressed his appreciation for Aeon's demonstration of its corporate social responsibility in protecting the environment and the panda. Cui says that Aeon's donation demonstrates Japanese people's support of the friendly relations between China and Japan.

The cute giant pandas are not only the national treasure of China, but also special envoys for Sino-Japanese relations. The Chinese government previously gave two giant pandas to Japan when the diplomatic relations between the two countries was normalized.