Top: Photo taken in 1984 by Jin Xuqi shows former Pingwu County forestry bureau staff member Zhong Zhaomin (L) feeding giant panda cub Long Long in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Bottom: Photo taken on May 26, 2019 by Xue Yubin shows a breeder taking care of giant panda cubs in Shenshuping base of China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas in Wolong of Sichuan. In order to enable the captive pandas to return to the wild independently, a "wild training" of the captive-bred pandas at Wolong has been going on for over a decade. Now, panda experts and feeders have made some breakthrough in the panda captive-breeding, realizing the self-sustaining and sustainable development of the captive panda population. In 2016, the status of the giant panda was downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, the Chinese people faced a devastated country that needed to be rebuilt from scratch after decades of warfare and chaos. After decades of unremitting endeavors and dedication by the Chinese people, China has grown to be the world's second largest economy. In 1952, China's GDP was 30 billion U.S. dollars, while in 2018, its GDP reached 13.61 trillion U.S. dollars, an increase of 452.6 times. A group of combo photos give you a glimpse of what Chinese people did decades ago and what they do right now. Undoubtedly, people from all walks of life in China with hard work and wisdom have made contributions to the country's development. (Xinhua)
