Poster of movie Kung Fu Panda 3. [Photo/Xinhuanet]

The third installment of the Kung Fu Panda franchise, co-produced by China and the US, will hit both countries' screens on Jan 29, 2016.

Kung Fu Panda 3, directed by Jennifer Yuh and Alessandro Carloni, tells the story after Po is reunited with his long-lost father and how he grows into a hero.

Yuh said on Wednesday that before she made Kung Fu Panda 2, she visited a panda base in southwest China's Sichuan Province and held a baby panda which gave her lots of inspiration.

In previous installments, Po changes from being an obscure waiter who serves noodles into a Kung Fu hero.

"In the third one, Po will continue self-improvement to become a sophisticated hero," said Yuh.

The English voices include Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu.

The franchise started in 2008. The second installment was released in 2011 and brought in worldwide box office earnings of over $660 million.