Giant pandas Chen Xing and Xiao Yue arrive in Malaysia

Malaysia has welcomed two new giant pandas that arrived in the country on Tuesday night to begin their 10-year stay under the ongoing conservation partnership with China. The Ambassadors of Friendship left the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Centre in Sichuan Province and departed on a special flight from the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 3.45pm. They landed in Malaysia at 8.42pm, after which they underwent health checks before being moved to their newly renovated enclosure at Zoo Nagara. The pandas are named Chen Xing, a male born on August 19th in 2020 and Xiao Yue, a female born on September 29th the same year, with each bringing distinct personalities to their new home in Malaysia. Their arrival comes after Malaysia and China renewed their panda conservation agreement for another decade during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Malaysia in April. The new pair replaces Xing Xing and Liang Liang, whose 11-year stay at Zoo Nagara made them celebrities of sorts, and they also produced three cubs that were later returned to China. Chen Xing and Xiao Yue will undergo a mandatory quarantine period before being introduced to visitors early next year.