The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, began her visit to Sichuan today (July 17). She visited the Shenshuping Base of the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) and the Wolong Natural Museum of the Giant Panda National Park. She also attended the closing ceremony of the 2025 Youth Internship Programme at Wolong Region of Giant Panda National Park.
      
     In the morning, Miss Mak visited the Shenshuping Base of the CCRCGP. Accompanied by the Hong Kong youth participating in the internship programme, she toured the facilities and the panda base which were rebuilt with Hong Kong's support. The interns, who served as guides, gave a detailed presentation about nature conservation and the caring and rearing of giant pandas. Miss Mak then visited the Wolong Natural Museum of the Giant Panda National Park, where the interns shared with her their work experiences and the natural ecological conservation work of the Wolong National Nature Reserve.
      
     In the afternoon, Miss Mak attended the closing ceremony of the 2025 Youth Internship Programme at Wolong Region of Giant Panda National Park, witnessing 20 Hong Kong youth successfully completing their internship journeys. In her speech, Miss Mak said that the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) has collaborated with the Sichuan Wolong Nature Reserve Administration and the CCRCGP to organise the internship programme since 2017, providing Hong Kong youth with professional training and practical work experiences in nature conservation and ecotourism. She expressed gratitude to the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Forestry and Grassland, the Wolong Nature Reserve Administration and the CCRCGP for their long-standing support towards Hong Kong youth development, enabling students to gain practical experience through their internships.
      
     Jointly organised by the HYAB and various Mainland official cultural, nature conservation and scientific research institutions, the HYAB Thematic Youth Internship Programmes to the Mainland, offers six internship programmes, providing over 110 specialised internship positions for Hong Kong youth. Among them, the six-week Youth Internship Programme at Wolong Region of Giant Panda National Park is one of the programmes where interns will be guided by experts and scholars in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan, and take on roles such as field researchers, ecotour guides, museum docents, giant panda education ambassadors and ecological education promotion experts.
      
     Miss Mak will continue her visit to Sichuan tomorrow.

Ends/Thursday, July 17, 2025
Issued at HKT 19:20

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