In the 1990s, China began sending pandas to foreign zoos to be bred, in the hope that future generations could be released into the wild. It hasn’t gone as planned.

The panda census methodology is widely seen as flawed, and China keeps the data shrouded in secrecy.

More than 50 African leaders have gathered in Beijing for a summit aimed at projecting the influence of China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in the developing world.