Kai Kai and Jia Jia receive VIP welcome at Changi airport

From China to Singapore: Pandas Kai Kai (left) and Jia Jia (right) on the tarmac of Freighter Bay 509 at the Changi airport in Singapore. The bears flew over 3,000km via Singapore Airlines Cargo from Chengdu, China, to their new home in the island republic. —The Straits Times/Asia News Network

SINGAPORE gave a VIP welcome to a pair of giant pandas loaned by China for 10 years to mark two decades of close diplomatic relations.

The bears – five-year-old male Kai Kai (Victorious) and four-year-old Jia Jia (Beauty) – will be the stars in a new section of the Singapore Zoo and will make their public debut in December after a quarantine period.