BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - China has shut down some polluting factories in the mountainous southwestern province of Sichuan and told others to clean up their act to help protect roaming pandas, state media said on Tuesday.

The local government at Ya'an, where about 20 percent of China's giant pandas live, had closed about 30 enterprises in recent years, the China Daily said.

Ya'an is where a panda was spotted in 1869 by French missionary Armand David, who brought the now endangered species to the world's attention.

China goes to great lengths to protect the giant panda, which is regarded a national treasure. An estimated 1,000 live in Sichuan, and some in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces in the northwest.

Pandas are famously picky eaters with a diet based mainly on bamboo leaves and shoots.

Chinese media have reported that a panda breeding centre in Chendu, capital of Sichuan, is working on a project to produce souvenirs made from panda dung.

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