On October 13th 2017, Ambassador Chen Li visited the Ähtäri Zoo to attend the topping out ceremony of the Ähtäri Panda Centre.

In his speech, Ambassador Chen Li mentioned, during President Xi Jinping's state visit to Finland in April this year, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation document on protection of giant panda. This shows the solid friendship between China and Finland as well as excellent cooperation of two countries in agriculture and forestry areas.

Ambassador Chen thanked all related sides for their support to this program and expressed his wishes that a pair of giant pandas could come to Finland towards the end of this year, and the China-Finland relations could be further enhanced.

Ambassador Chen also toured the Centre guided by staff from the Ähtäri Zoo. The Centre comprises of panda building, natural outdoor enclosures, technical and veterinary facilities, restaurants, a modern information centre etc.