Pupils from Paotongshu Primary School in Chengdu show the Chinese-language edition of the panda book on Wednesday morning.

CHENGDU,July 16 (chinadaily)-- Panda experts, British and Chinese publishers, journalists and primary school students gathered together Wednesday morning at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province to celebrate the launch of the Chinese-language edition of "Watch Me Grow: Panda".

Published in Great Britain earlier in April by Dorling Kindersley Limited, the 24-page picture book is targeted at children aged from six to 12 worldwide and their parents. The book begins with a brief introduction to Jing Jing, a female panda at the base, her habits and lifecycle, and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Born in August 2005, Jing Jing was chosen as one of the mascots of the Beijing Olympics to be held next month.

Since April, 120,000 copies of the book have been sold in Europe, said Jo Lusby, general manager of Penguin Group (China).

To arouse more Chinese to pay more attention to the protection of the giant panda on the wake of the May 12 earthquake, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has co-operated with Tongqu Publishing Co Ltd and the People's Post Publishing House in Beijing to publish the Chinese edition of the book.

Translated from English into Chinese by Tongqu Publishing, the Chinese-language edition of the book has 32 pages and all the photos in both the Chinese and English-language editions were taken by base chief Zhang Zhihe.

The giant panda is also the logo of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The animal has been around for 8 million years, and is an endangered animal species as there are only 1,500 left on the planet.

An animal unique to China, pandas live mainly in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and 85 percent of them are in Sichuan.

The earthquake damaged many mountainous panda habitats in Sichuan including the Wolong Nature Reserve. About 100 kilometers from Wenchuan, the epicenter, the Giant Panda Chengdu Research Base also felt the strong tremor as some of its walls and the monitoring system were damaged, said Wang Chuandong, deputy base chief.