[September 21, 2017, Xi'an] – Today, Xian Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., kicked off a new phase of cooperation with the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry Qinling Mountains Giant Panda Breeding Center to protect rare giant pandas at the 2017 Newborn Giant Panda Naming and Adoption Ceremony in Xi'an.

The event was organized by the Forestry Department of Shaanxi Province. The Forestry Department's Deputy Director General Tang Zhouhuai and Dang Shuangren, Vice President Lei Yinghu from the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry, and Qi Xinjian, Head of Communications and Public Affairs for Xian Janssen, attended the ceremony. The event celebrated the first 100 days of three giant pandas born in June and the first 30 days of one giant panda born in August at the Center, and marked the launch of a new phase of cooperation between Xian Janssen and the Center to support giant panda breeding and public education.

Xian Janssen has worked with the Center in its mission to care for and protect wild animals and protect our natural environment since 2007. The first phase of formal cooperation on the giant panda conservation project took place in 2011, with four consecutive years of support for the Center's Shaanxi Qinling Mountains Giant Panda Breeding Base. The base, completed in 2012, significantly improved the capabilities of giant panda rescue, feeding, breeding and scientific research in Shaanxi province.  

The second phase of cooperation between Xian Janssen and the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry Qinling Mountains Giant Panda Breeding Center will begin in October 2017, providing for a further three years of support for breeding research and public education on giant panda conservation. The support provided by Xian Janssen will go to improving the giant panda facilities and environment at the Center, supporting breeding research, and engaging the public in the Center's conservation mission through public education and popular science activities. 

At the event, Dang Shuangren, Deputy Director General of the Shaanxi Province Forestry Department, expressed his optimism and confidence for the collaboration, saying, “The Shaanxi Qinling Mountain Giant Panda is extremely rare. The Shaanxi Academy of Forestry Qinling Mountains Giant Panda Breeding Center is doing extraordinary work, and we appreciate the support by partners like Xian Janssen. We hope to make progress toward helping these special animals to thrive.” 

Vice President of the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry Lei Yinghu said: “Over the past decade, Xian Janssen has provided strong support for research on giant panda breeding and the protection of giant pandas. We are very glad to further our collaboration with Xian Janssen, protecting and caring for rare wild animals together."

In honor of Xian Janssen and Johnson & Johnson's long history of support and welcome contributions to the panda program, the Center named one of its newest giant pandas as “Johnson & Johnson (強(qiáng)生)” after Xian Janssen's parent company, Johnson & Johnson. 

Established in Xi'an in 1985, Xian Janssen is one of China's largest pharmaceutical companies and among the earliest multinational pharmaceutical companies to enter China simultaneous with the opening up of China's economy. Xian Janssen has developed into one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical companies in China, with offices located in 29 cities across the country and over 2,500 employees.

In the past 32 years, Xian Janssen has been committed to providing Chinese patients and consumers with high-quality, innovative products that fulfill unmet medical needs. Based on the company's Credo and spirit of caring, Xian Janssen has been an active corporate citizen, successfully implementing dozens of cooperative projects in the areas of medicine, public health, R&D, and corporate social responsibility. One such is a collaboration with the Red Cross Society of China to expand the capacity of the Chinese Marrow Donor Program that began in 2002; another is the cooperation since 2003 with the Ma Haide Foundation to provide financial and other forms of assistance to leprosy patients through its Donation and Support Project.

Said Qi Xinjian, Head of Communications and Public Affairs for Xian Janssen, “We have an unchanging commitment and passion for Xi'an, where our company was born, and we are inspired by our Credo to provide care to the local communities where we live and work. Through our joint efforts, we can make China a healthier society.”

With deep roots in Xi'an, Xian Janssen has a long history of local CSR initiatives. The company has worked with the Emperor Qin's Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses since 2000 to aid in the preservation of the museum’s relics. They provided the museum with research facilities, anti-fungal treatments, employee training and a first-class microbial laboratory for advanced material protection research in China. Meanwhile, Xian Janssen has worked with the Shaanxi Charity Association since 2009 to improve the living environment of poor villages in rural areas of Shaanxi, by facilitating new rural construction, economic development, and the improvement of school facilities. 

About the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry Qinling Mountains Giant Panda Breeding Center
Located in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, China, the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry Qinling Mountains Giant Panda Breeding Center is one of the first rare wild animal rescue centers in China, as well as one of four giant panda breed research centers in China. It is the only organization in China focusing on the protection and breeding of Qinling Mountain giant pandas. Since the Center was established, it has been dedicated to recuing, feeding and breeding rare animals, and improving wild animal welfare and conservation. The Center has made remarkable strides in protecting rare species such as giant pandas, crested ibis, golden monkey, and takin. In terms of ex-situ conservation, the Center has artificially bred 16 giant pandas in 15 births by strengthening wild rescue, feeding management, and overcoming breed technical difficulties, which has helped the giant panda population in captive breeding reach 23, becoming the third largest artificial breeding population in the world. The Center has been in operation since its construction in 1987.