Can giant pandas rescue Hong Kong's economy?

China gifted the city two pandas

Originally published on Global Voices

Recent visitors to Hong Kong will have probably seen a few panda installations throughout town and at major tourist sites as the government seeks to revive the city’s tourism with the so-called “panda economy” approach.

The city's economy has been in a lurch since the COVID-19 pandemic, and tourism never fully recovered after political upheaval related to state crackdowns against the 2019 pro-democracy protests and the introduction of numerous controversial bills, such as the National Security Law.

To try and revive this economic dip, around 2,500 more panda sculptures will be placed throughout the city as the Christmas and New Year tourist season approaches:

From next Monday, a new “PANDA GO! FEST HK” exhibition will showcase 2,500 panda sculptures in eight unique designs across #HongKong. With four public exhibitions, organisers are aiming for an “immersive celebration that blends art, exhibition, and tourism.” Photo:… pic.twitter.com/fpM5f3zIOn

— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) November 25, 2024

The term “panda economy” was picked up by pro-Beijing media outlets in Hong Kong after Chief Executive John Lee announced on July 1, 2024, that the Chinese Central government would send a pair of adult panda bears as a gift to mark the anniversary of the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. Then came more news — Ocean Park’s giant panda couple, Le Le (male) and Ying Ying (female), naturally delivered two cubs in August after living in the park for 17 years — a major milestone for the endangered species which has notoriously low birth rates.

After Bejing’s panda couple arrived in Hong Kong in September, the city became home to six pandas.

Giant panda twins, born to Ying Ying, a giant panda gifted by the central government to Hong Kong, celebrated their 100th day on Saturday.

Ocean Park Hong Kong held a celebration event on Saturday to mark the occasion. Visitors received red eggs and pork knuckle ginger stew.… pic.twitter.com/6xsLAqipJr

— China Focus (@China__Focus) November 25, 2024

However, raising pandas is expensive. The annual spending for Le Le and Ying Ying is about USD 2 million, based on an estimate from 2007. Now Ocean Park has to build new facilities to house four more pandas and import bamboo to feed them. Yet, since 2015, the park has faced financial challenges due to dwindling visitors, and the Hong Kong government had to inject HKD 2 billion to keep it afloat in 2021.

Although the park had about HKD 118.5 million (about USD 1.5 million) surplus in 2023, it won’t be enough to cover the extra expenses. 

Worldwide, zoos are more hesitant to host captive animals due to the huge cost and increasing awareness of animal rights. Just recently, Finland decided to return two pandas to China as the zoo can no longer afford to keep them:

Finland will return two giant pandas to China in November, more than eight years ahead of time, as the zoo where they live can no longer afford their upkeep, the chair of the zoo's board told Reuters on Tuesday.#China #panda pic.twitter.com/xWrw0GhM7E

— Radio Free Asia (@RadioFreeAsia) September 25, 2024

Pro-establishment politicians and news outlets have told Hongkongers that the pandas could attract more visitors and boost the stagnant economy.

The Beijing-affiliated news outlet China Daily, for example, depicted the pandas as “A beacon of hope for Ocean Park to restore its glory” in a feature story on September 26, 2024. Ocean Park is a massive 91.5-hectare theme park and zoo where the pandas will be kept.

The Ocean Park Chairperson, Paulo Pong, was cited in the state-owned media that the pandas and the attention they brought were “gifts bestowed by heaven”, and the park planned to develop panda-themed intellectual property, live broadcasting, social media marketing and peripheral products as revenue. 

The 2,500 panda sculptures will be produced by Allrightsreserved, a Hong Kong-based creative studio — one of the ventures that seek to develop panda-themed intellectual property rights. The exhibition company will give the Hong Kong government and Ocean Park the IP rights to use their panda design, and it promised to donate royalties they received from other third parties to Ocean Park to maintain its operations of raising the giant pandas.

In addition to the economic mission, pro-Beijing politicians also expected the giant pandas to play a role in the city’s national education. The Education Bureau described the giant pandas as the “crystal of the love between Hong Kong and the mainland” in a letter sent to all the schools in August concerning the celebration of China National Day. At the same time, the secretary of Hong Kong education elaborated on the idea in a China Daily article:

One crucial benefit to be derived from the panda gifts is that the national treasures will serve to tie a stronger emotional knot between the mainland and the SAR. Given their status as national treasures and high publicity, the new pandas will be in a most effective position to create a strong sense of national identity and kinship among the younger generation with the homeland. This has also become a vital goal in our school education.

While the two cute newborn pandas have attracted many fans, people are skeptical about whether the panda attention economy can be translated into monetary terms. Here is one widely circulating joke on Facebook:

熊貓經濟係掂嘅，成都一早做咗金融中心啦。

If the panda economy worked, Chengdu would be a financial center.

Written by Oiwan Lam