China will be gifting Qatar with a very special present - two giant Chinese pandas, as the Arab nation prepares to host the football World Cup.
Heralding both the forthcoming competition and the special relationship between China and the Gulf state, China's ambassador to Doha said the pandas were a gift from all of his fellow 1.4 billion countrymen, and would "surely become a new symbol of China-Qatar friendship."
The two black-and-white Chinese natives are named Suhail and Soraya, and are expected to arrive in Qatar in October, just before the start of the 32-nation tournament, Zhou Jian said.
The pandas' names were chosen specifically with their destination in mind: Suhail is the name of one of the brightest stars observed in the Gulf region, while Soraya is the Arabic name for the Pleiades star cluster.
While a Chinese team won't be playing in World Cup 2022, several companies from China have been heavily involved in building infrastructure around the event.
China Railway Construction Corporation helped build Lusail Stadium, the main arena of this year's competition.
It isn't the first time China has made a gift of the iconic animals to a friendly country.
Back in 2012, another pair of giant pandas were loaned for 10 years to France, as part of what has been dubbed "panda diplomacy," a way for China to strengthen its ties with other nations.
Since the renewal of the pandas' loan to Paris, they have been living at a zoo near Beauval in western France, where they have been since giving birth to another three cubs.
Last year, China removed giant pandas from its list of endangered species after the number living in the wild increased.
Beijing says there are now 1,800 pandas living outside of captivity, meaning the species is classified as 'vulnerable' instead of 'endangered.'
Pandas were first listed as 'endangered' in 1990, but more than 30 years of conservation work has seen their numbers grow.
