After a visit by an expert team to the Macao Giant Panda Pavilion, the Government has decided the two selected pandas would arrive on 30 April.

The expert team, comprising members from the State Forestry Administration and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, said the Pavilion’s environment was satisfactory, including its medical facilities, management and staffing.

Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, who led the co-ordinating group for the selection, visited Chengdu last month to choose the eight-year-old female “Shurong” and its seven-year-old male partner “Yalin”.

But the new arrivals would continue to use the name “Hoi Hoi” and “Sam Sam”, as the names were chosen by the people of Macao. The names literally mean “happiness”, which also represent the people’s joy with the gift from the Central Government.

As for Hoi Hoi, or nicknamed “Shuxiang”, the male panda has been in Macao since 2010 and will be returned to the mainland for a national breeding programme due to its potent fertility. Its female partner, Sam Sam, died last year due to kidney failure.

The offer of a new pair was announced by President Xi Jinping when he was here for the inauguration ceremony of the new government team last December.