The State Forestry Administration of China announced the criteria for a giant panda couple to be sent to Taiwan at a press conference here Friday.

The criteria for judging the candidate giant pandas cover five aspects including the age, appearance, physical and psychological conditions, said Zhang Hemin, head of China Research Center for Protection of Giant Pandas in southwestern city of Wolong.

"First, we should make sure that the two giant pandas are not close relatives and whether the couple can breed babies in Taiwan, so their age should be ranged between one and four as giant pandas usually sexually mature at the age of four to five," said Zhang, who is also leader of the nine-member expert group responsible for selecting the two pandas, which are gifts from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan,

"Those who are dull, slow, or too aggressive are definitely out of consideration," said Zhang. "The selected giant pandas must follow a normal living habit. "

"Our ultimate goal is to find a healthy and adorable panda couple for Taiwan," said Zhang.

Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, announced on May3 that the mainland would present a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan.

Ever since then, the Wolong center, China's largest artificially-breeding center for giant pandas, has started selecting a suitable couple for Taiwan.

The eligible candidates consists of seventeen pandas.

Cao Qingyao, spokesperson for the State Forestry Administration, expressed hope that the giant pandas could reach Taiwan as early as possible.

The number of giant pandas in captivity totaled 163 in the Chinese mainland by the end of last year, half of which live in the Wolong center. The number of wild pandas in China exceeds 1,590.

Source: Xinhua