Aside from a strategic and economic interest, countries must prove that they have the technical capacity to house and breed pandas and are committed to conservation. In the U.S., zoos must also receive approval from the Fish and Wildlife Service to import pandas by demonstrating that public display of the pandas won't interfere with scientific research.

Appropriate facilities and expertise don't come cheaply. Belgium's two pandas will soon arrive, and an $11 million panda home is currently under construction. In Hong Kong, special caretakers were even sent for training at panda research centers in China.

Conservation projects in partnership with China have included habitat restoration and the study of breeding techniques. Research collaborations are also looking at how to reintroduce pandas into the wild.