KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Two panda cubs, Yi Yi and Shen Yi have bid farewell to their Malaysian home today after spending their years here since their birth.

The giant panda cubs will return to China from the Giant Panda Conservation Centre at the National Zoo here at 4pm today.

"Yi Yi who is now five years old was initially scheduled to be sent back home in 2020, but the repatriation had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Considering that Sheng Yi has also reached 24 months of age last May, the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) has agreed to Malaysia’s proposal to send the third giant panda cub back together with Yi Yi,” said Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii here.

Yi Yi and Sheng Yi were born to the giant panda pair of Fu Wa and Feng Yi, which were loaned to the Malaysian government in 2014 for 10 years, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.

"The repatriation of Yi Yi and Sheng Yi was carried out in compliance with the International Cooperative Agreement on Giant Panda Conservation, signed between both parties in 2012.

"Yi Yi, signifying ‘friendship’ and Sheng Yi, signifying ‘peace and friendship’ bear names that echo the core values shared by Malaysia and China,” he said.

Tiong Sii added that a joint assessment will be conducted with the CWCA this year to evaluate the achievements of the International Cooperative Agreement on Giant Panda Conservation in aspects such as health status, breeding, education and public awareness, research and bilateral relations.

He also said that the return of these giant panda cubs served the purpose of giant panda conservation, enabling it to socialize and breed with other giant pandas.

To date, Fu Wa and Feng Yi, which were renamed Xing Xing (male) and Liang Liang (female), have given birth to three cubs, namely Nuan Nuan who was born on August 18, 2015; Yi Yi on January 14, 2018; and Sheng Yi on May 30, 2021.

Nuan Nuan was sent back to China in 2017.

* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.