French first lady Brigitte Macron paid a special visit to an old friend in southwest China's Chengdu on Friday, as she stopped off to see an eight-year-old male panda which was born in France but was later returned to China.
The happy encounter came as French President Emmanuel Macron's three-day state visit to China reached a heartwarming conclusion, with Brigitte Macron heading to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province to be reunited with Yuan Meng (meaning "accomplishment of a dream"), the panda she helped name following its birth at France's ZooParc de Beauval (Beauval Zoo).
Yuan Meng's parents, Huan Huan, and Yuan Zi, arrived in France in 2012 at the age of three on a 10-year loan from China. In 2017, Huan Huan gave birth to twin cubs, the first cub died shortly after birth and the second one was named "Yuan Meng".
When "Yuan Meng" returned to China after completing its stay in France in July 2023, First Lady Brigitte went to the airport in person to see it off and expressed that she would come to China to see it if an opportunity arises.
This trip was her wish coming true. Upon arriving at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Brigitte was very concerned about "Yuan Meng's" life in China. She learned from the staff that "Yuan Meng" had adapted very well after returning to China and was being taken care of by dedicated breeders.
"We would be very glad if pandas could come to France again in the future," said the French first lady.
French first lady meets her "old friend" in China
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Friday presided over a State Council executive meeting which studied further arrangements on energy conservation and carbon reduction, and heard a report on a special campaign on business-related administrative law enforcement.
The meeting also reviewed and approved a draft regulation on administrative law enforcement oversight, discussed a draft law on firefighters, and arranged work for a crackdown on tobacco-related illegal activities.
The meeting emphasized the need to ensure higher-standard and better-quality work in the fields of energy conservation and carbon reduction -- work which must be advanced with greater overall planning efforts and in light of local conditions.
To that end, the meeting called for efforts to maximize the impact of policies, continuously improve market mechanisms, and accelerate the transition to green production and green lifestyles.
A special campaign on regulating business-related administrative law enforcement this year has achieved positive results, the meeting noted, underlining further efforts to enhance the standardization of administrative law enforcement.
By drafting and implementing the regulation on administrative law enforcement oversight, the boundaries and responsibilities of law enforcement authorities will be clarified further, and administrative power will be upheld consistently within a legal framework, it said.
It discussed and approved in principle a draft law on firefighters, which will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.
It is imperative that the institutional arrangements for the country's firefighting force are improved, making it more standardized and professional, the meeting said, stressing the need to consolidate fire safety management, and to resolutely prevent and curb serious or major fire accidents.
Work will also be done to crack down strictly on tobacco-related illegal activities, strengthen supervision and law enforcement across all links, and improve the tobacco market environment, according to the meeting.
Chinese premier chairs meeting on carbon reduction, administrative law enforcement
