The expert team has initiated the selection process for a pair of giant pandas for Macao to keep Hoi Hoi company, according to the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan.

Speaking to the media after a committee meeting of the Legislative Assembly on 14 January, Ms Chan said there was no need to extend the Grand Panda Pavilion as existing facilities could meet the needs of three giant pandas.

President Xi Jinping, when he was in Macao last December for the inauguration ceremony of the new government team, announced that the Central Government would offer Macao two pandas.

In consideration for the needs of Hoi Hoi, which lost its female partner last year, Ms Chan would not rule out that it would return to the mainland for better matching opportunities, but added that the final decision would rest on the expert team.