‘Agile’ and ‘adorable’ giant pandas set for Hong Kong will be young, fit to reproduce: John Lee

He said the pair were currently being prepared for their trip to Hong Kong but would first need to undergo 60 days of quarantine – 30 days on the mainland and another 30 in Hong Kong – before they could meet the public.

Lee said he had previously told mainland authorities he hoped the new pandas coming to Hong Kong would be able to produce offspring in the city to bring “even more joy and warmth” to the public.

The chief executive led a delegation to Sichuan on Sunday to discuss preparations for the transfer of two giant pandas gifted to the city by Beijing as a part of the 27th handover anniversary celebrations.

The delegation included Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Mickey Lai Kin-ming, and Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong Kin-yee.

During a visit to the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Centre with his wife Janet Lee Lam Lai-sim on Monday, Lee said he would try to arrange for the pandas to be sent to the city by National Day on October 1.

The two new pandas will be the third pair Beijing has gifted to Hong Kong since 1999.

Like the previous bears, the new giant pandas are going to be housed at Ocean Park.

Paulo Pong Kin-yee, the tourist attraction’s chairman, earlier said his staff, as well as authorities, were making quarantine arrangements and upgrading old facilities to ensure the smooth arrival of the animals.

Communist Party secretary of Sichuan Wang Xiaohui met the delegation on Monday and said the central government’s move to give an additional pair of giant pandas to Hong Kong showed its care and support.

“Sichuan is the hometown of giant pandas, and the pandas gifted to Hong Kong by the central government all come from Sichuan,” Wang said. “Giant pandas have become special envoys and a bond of friendship between the people of Sichuan and Hong Kong.

“Under the unified arrangements of the central government, we will fully cooperate and make all necessary preparations to ensure that the giant pandas can soon arrive and meet with the people of Hong Kong.”

Wang also said he hoped both sides could fully leverage the mechanism of the Sichuan-Hong Kong cooperation to deepen and expand comprehensive collaboration in areas, such as economic and trade investment, cultural tourism, education and technology, financial services and logistics.

Additional reporting by Oscar Liu