Two pandas to arrive in Macao on April 30

MACAO - The new pair of giant pandas given by China's central government as gifts to the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will arrive in Macao on April 30, the Office of Macao Secretary for Administration and Justice said on Sunday.

Experts from the mainland were satisfied with the preparations made by staffs with the Macao giant pandas pavilion after they visited the living and medical facilities of the pandas during an on-the-spot inspection, according to the office.

A female panda, No.667, and a male, No.726, were chosen from 55 candidates following a three-month selection. The pandas, both 110 kg in weight, are also named Kaikai and his partner Xinxin who died in June last year, said the office.

The Macao SAR government said Kaikai will return to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for a breeding plan.

The former Kaikai and Xinxin came to Macao as gifts for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Macao's return to China. The luxury pavilion housing feeding and medical facilities cost some 90 million patacas (11.4 million US dollars).

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the central government will present a pair of giant pandas to the Macao SAR and wished "they would grow up healthily and bring happiness to Macao people" when he visited Macao in December 2014.