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China's president to receive honorary doctorate, open panda pavilion at Moscow Zoo

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to pay a visit to Russia on June 5-7

© AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

BEIJING, May 30. /TASS/. During his upcoming visit to Russia Chinese President Xi Jinping will receive honorary doctorate of the St. Petersburg State University and inaugurate a pavilion of pandas handed over by China to Russia at the Moscow Zoo, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui told reporters at a special briefing on Thursday.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin paid his latest visit to China in April, the Chinese government announced that it would send a pair of giant pandas to Russia for a joint research effort. "Now the pandas are at the Moscow Zoo. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit the panda pavilion will be opened," he noted.

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Panda pair due to arrive at Moscow Zoo from China

"I’m sure that these ambassadors of friendship will make Russians go really crazy about pandas and will further enhance the friendly environment amid the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between two our countries," the senior diplomat said.

During his visit to China, President Putin was awarded the certificate of honorary doctorate at Tsinghua University, a major research university in Beijing. In his turn, Chinese President Xi Jinping will receive his honorary doctorate of the St. Petersburg State University.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to pay a visit to Russia on June 5-7 and take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

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