Whether or not cynical motives lurk behind the panda breeding program, however, there are signs that the prospects for the giant panda has begun to improve in recent years and the release of Xiang Xiang into the wild may be symptomatic of a brighter future for the species.
A survey in 2004 by the Chinese government and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) found there were 1,600 pandas living in the wild -- 500 more than previously thought. There are also some 180 now living in captivity in zoos around the world.
Most pandas in the wild live in the 50 nature reserves around southwest China and covering some 10,000km2.
The vital next step, the WWF believes, is to develop "green corridors" to link the reserves and broaden the gene pool of the pandas to give them a better chance of survival.
Dermot O'Gorman, executive director of WWF China, said that existing reserves remained under pressure from deforestation and harvesting of the bamboo forests that pandas are dependent on.
The WWF is working to try to get mountain communities to switch from forestry to eco-tourism ventures that will support panda communities.
"What we would like to happen is that further efforts need to be made on panda conservation to really protect the habitat that is suitable for pandas, and the use of green corridors to link up these reserves," O'Gorman said.
Some of the regions containing the panda reserves have already committed to the creation of green corridors and sources say there could be further progress on the network of corridors announced before the end of this year.
So what are the prospects for Xiang Xiang?
"We don't have a clear picture of whether this release will succeed or not," O'Gorman said.
"Only time will tell. Since this is the first time it has happened it is hard to speculate. We can only look at other releases where animals have been acclimatized back into the wild. There has been a mixed success," he said.
"This is a significant event but our main message is that we must protect the panda habitat. That is the long-term solution to the saving of the panda. That is not to belittle the efforts that have taken place with Xiang Xiang, but it should be seen in the context of a much broader approach that is required to save pandas," O'Gorman said.
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