A baby panda is pictured at the Pairi Daiza wildlife park in Brugelette, Belgium, June 2, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

China's fourth panda census, the results of which were released last year by the State Forestry Administration, tallied 1,864 wild pandas and 375 captive pandas worldwide at the end of 2013. That compares with 1,596 wild pandas and 164 captive pandas worldwide in the third census, which was carried out in 2000 to 2002.

Despite the population increase, 24 of the 33 groups of wild pandas found in the fourth census are believed to be endangered, with some groups having fewer than 30 pandas, Zhang said. Eighteen groups have fewer than 10 pandas each and are in severe danger of extinction, he added.

Meanwhile, Belgium's Pairi Daiza zoo announced on Thursday the birth of a panda, just three months after Chinese experts tried to artificially inseminate the mother, Hao Hao.

Su Zhou contributed to this story.