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National Zoo names new panda cub ‘Bao Bao’

Just call her Precious.

The giant panda cub born this summer at the National Zoo will be known as Bao Bao — Chinese for “treasure” or “precious,” officials at the D.C. zoo announced on Sunday.

More than 123,000 people voted online in the zoo’s baby-naming contest, in which voters were given five names to choose from. The official announcement was made on Sunday in keeping with a Chinese tradition to name panda cubs on their 100th day.

Bao Bao is measured at the Smithsonian National Zoo on Nov. 29.AP

So far Bao Bao has only been seen by the public in video. She is expected to make her first live appearance before adoring panda fans in early 2014, zoo officials said.

Bao Bao arrived on Aug. 23, to mom Mei Xiang and dad Tian Tian. Bao Bao has an older brother, Tai Shan, who was born in 2005 and sent to China for breeding.

They are the only giant panda cubs born at the National Zoo to survive in 42 years of “panda diplomacy” between the U.S. and China.

China gave two of the roly-poly, bamboo-munching cuties — Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing — to America in 1972 as the two countries sought to ease Cold War tensions. But breeding in captivity has proved difficult: All five cubs born to Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing died within days. A panda cub born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian last year also succumbed.

But officials were all smiles on Sunday over Bao Bao, and the first ladies of both countries offered videotaped congratulations at Sunday’s announcement ceremony. Michelle Obama hailed pandas “as a symbol of the growing connections between our two countries.” Peng Liyuan, speaking in Mandarin, said, “Many people love baby pandas as they love their own children.”