Chinese President Xi Jinping received the credentials presented by eight new ambassadors to China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday.

The ambassadors are Selim Belortaja from Albania, Jose Bernal from Mexico, Usenov Azamat from Kyrgyzstan, Mothusi Palai from Botswana, Edward Boateng from Ghana, Terry Branstad from the United States, Jean-Maurice Ripert from France, and Patricia Rodriguez Holkemeyer from Costa Rica.

Xi welcomed the ambassadors to China and asked them to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to the leaders and people of their countries.

The Chinese government will provide convenience and support for the work of the ambassadors and hopes that they will actively contribute to bilateral relations between China and their countries, Xi said.

Xi spoke positively of traditional friendship and sound relations with the eight countries, and said China will enhance mutual trust, promote pragmatic cooperation, and deepen people-to-people exchanges to boost bilateral ties.

The ambassadors conveyed greetings from their state leaders to Xi. They said their countries highly value the relations with China, as well as the friendship between the peoples, and expect to participate in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

They said they feel greatly honored to serve as ambassadors to China, and will devote their best efforts to promoting cooperation between their countries and China, as well as deepening mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples.

A large part of China is sweltering in intolerable heat as temperatures in central and eastern regions have soared to 40 degrees Celsius.

A panda sits with an ice cube in Beijing Zoo in Beijing, capital of China, July 12, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Not only humans are suffering, so are the animals.

With its mouth wide open, a rhino at the Beijing Zoo greedily enjoyed a spray of water. Not far away, others swallowed watermelons prepared by their feeders.

Li Dongrui, a member of the zoo’s feeding team, told Xinhua they sprayed water at least twice a day to cool down the overheated animals.

“We also set up paddling pools for the pandas and elephants, and air conditioners for the polar bears,” he said. “This year, we even created a 10-square meter mud pool for the rhinos.”

When the temperature hits 35 degrees Celsius, giant ice cubes are delivered to the enclosures of polar bears, red pandas, golden monkeys, and chimpanzees.

The ice cubes, weighing 15 kilos each, are prepared three days in advance. Eight to ten ice cubes are needed each time.

The giant pandas receive a special treat — a dessert of mung bean soup, a traditional Chinese summer soup believed to be beneficial to human body, and in this case animal body, to reduce heat.

“Giant pandas cannot handle the heat, so we must keep the indoor temperature between 24 to 26 degrees Celsius,” Li said. “They eat eight meals every day to maintain strength, including bamboo shoots, carrots, and mung bean soup. Each panda consumes almost 50 kilos of bamboo a day.”

This summer, the Beijing Zoo has served 12 kinds of fruit, 28 kinds of vegetable, three kinds of green fodder as well as sugar and beverages daily to keep the animals healthy under the baking sun.

It is estimated over 48,000 kilos of fruit, 450,000 kilos of vegetables and 256,000 kilos of green fodder will be consumed during the summer.

To guarantee the freshness, all the green fodder is delivered at night and given to the animals within 15 hours. Bamboo leaves have been transported refrigerated since June, so that the giant pandas can have the best quality of their favorite food.