China is planning to donate a pair of crested ibises to Japan in October as a symbol of friendship — the first such donation in more than a decade — amid warming relations between the two countries, Japanese government sources said Wednesday.
The two countries are making arrangements for the transfer of the internationally protected species to the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center around Oct. 23, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to visit China to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a bilateral peace and friendship treaty taking effect, the sources said.
Since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised to provide the birds to Japan during his visit to Tokyo in May, officials from both countries have been coordinating when to bring the pair to the conservation facility in Niigata Prefecture.