Panda diplomacy likely to boost ties

CHENGDU - A pair of pandas being loaned by China to Japan was set to arrive in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on Monday night, sparking a frenzy of interest in the endangered creatures in the Japanese capital and raising hopes that the animals may help improve bilateral ties.

Bi Li and his female partner, Xian Nu, both 5, were due to touch down at Narita International Airport in Tokyo on a flight from Shanghai.

They had left their home in the Bifengxia Base of the Wolong Nature Reserve in Southwest China's Sichuan province, at 5 pm on Sunday.