The first and only giant panda to be born in the Netherlands so far will move to China at the end of September, the Ouwehands zoo in Rhenen confirmed on Thursday.

Fan Xing, who was born in May 2020, is going to China under the terms of the agreement signed between the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the zoo authorities. Her parents will remain in the Netherlands in the hope that they will breed again.

Fan Xing should have been sent to China at the end of last year but her departure was made difficult by the coronavirus restrictions.

During a medical check ahead of the planned departure, officials discovered Fan Xing, whose name is a reference to Van Gogh and his painting Starry Night, was female rather than male.