Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung today attended a ceremony to see off the two giant pandas, An An and Ke Ke, in Dujiangyan, Sichuan.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Yeung once again thanked the State Council's Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office, the National Forestry & Grassland Administration, the China Conservation & Research Centre for the Giant Panda, the Sichuan Provincial Government and the Dujiangyan Municipal Government for making arrangements over the past three months to facilitate the departure of An An and Ke Ke.

He said: “In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the central government has once again gifted a pair of giant pandas to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which means a whole lot to Hong Kong.

“It not only demonstrates the central government's care and support for the Hong Kong SAR but also recognises Hong Kong's efforts in conserving, caring for and rearing giant pandas.”

That same morning, Mr Yeung visited Tianfu Art Park, which features an art museum, a contemporary art museum and a library.

The culture chief arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan, yesterday and visited the Jinsha Site Museum. Built on the original Jinsha ruins, the museum aims to conserve, study and display the ancient Shu civilisation and Jinsha culture.