China will be loaning a new panda to a zoo in northern Thailand as part of its 'panda diplomacy' with the Southeast Asian country.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said China has agreed to send a new panda to the Chiang Mai Zoo following the death of its beloved giant panda Lin Hui last April.

The agreement was made during talks with China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi in Bangkok on January 29.

Prime Minister Srettha said the presence of pandas at the zoo would 'reflect the warm bilateral ties between the two nations', with struggling Thailand increasingly dependent on Chinese investment.

Meanwhile, Chiang Mai Zoo Director Wuttichai Muangman said the facility and staff were ready to welcome a new panda to their family.

He said: 'Even though Lin Hui is gone, the zoo has accumulated over 20 years of experience in caring for pandas with the help of experts from China.'

He added that the exhibition area and equipment to care for the pandas were well-maintained.

Kanchana Silpa-archa, leader of the Chartthaipattana political party, said she disagreed with adopting a new panda at the zoo.

She said the pandas already enjoy a high quality of life in China, and would only suffer as the exhibition area in Chiang Mai Zoo is limited and includes an 'unnatural' and expensive air-conditioned room.

She suggested that authorities focus on elephant-related investments instead.

Chiang Mai Zoo had acquired two pandas - Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui - as ambassadors from China in October 2003, with the pair quickly becoming favourites among zoogoers.

On May 27, 2009, the zoo marked a milestone by successfully birthing a female panda named Lin Ping through artificial insemination. Lin Ping is the first panda born in Thailand.

The cub stayed in Thailand for four years before being returned to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China on September 28, 2013.

Chuang Chuang passed away due to heart disease at the age of 19 on September 16, 2019. His partner Lin Hui passed away on April 19, 2023, due to old age.

Panda diplomacy is the practice of gifting pandas from China to other nations as a symbol of goodwill. The soft power strategy uses pandas as cultural ambassadors to foster positive diplomatic ties with other countries.