Tuantuan and Yuanyuan, the two giant pandas to be sent to Taiwan are given the names Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, which have a combined meaning of "reunion" literally.

The Chinese mainland's chief negotiator for Taiwan relations said in Taipei on Tuesday that he hoped a pair of giant pandas would arrive in Taiwan by the end of this year.

Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), said this during his meeting with Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the first ARATS-SEF summit ever held in Taiwan.

Chen said he would also give the SEF Nyssaceae seed, an endangered flowering plant that grows on the Chinese mainland. He hoped that they would be sowed on Taiwan soil.

On behalf of the ARATS, Chen accepted two rare animals from Taiwan. One is an indigenous goat with the scientific name of naemorhedus swinhoei, the other is a spotted deer.

Chen said he would carry the affection of the Taiwan people back to the mainland.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2008)