A man has wrestled with a giant panda at a zoo in China after sneaking into the animal's enclosure to allegedly impress his female friends.

The man jumped into the panda house at the zoo in Nanchang, in the country's east Jiangxi province, to tease the sleeping panda named Meiling.

The panda then woke up, ran towards him and proceeded to grip the man's leg.

Zoo authorities later said the move was usually used by pandas when they were playing with their breeders.

But the amusement of playing with the panda soon turned into panic when the animal wrestled with the man and pulled him to the ground.

The man then struggled to free himself from the panda's strong grip and eventually managed to escape.

"The young man left the zoo right after he escaped and we could not get in touch with him," said Kuang Huaming, the deputy head of zoo management.

"According to witnesses, his trousers were torn a little by the panda, but the man should be OK.

"On the other hand, we also arranged medical checks for the panda and told the breeders to closely observe its condition. So far the panda is fine."

ABC/Reuters