Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Donald Tsang, has confirmed the central government will give Hong Kong another pair of giant pandas next year.

Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao newspaper reports the Special Administrative Region asked for more young pandas because their resident pair of pandas, An'an and Jia Jia, are elderly and frail.

Last month the media started reporting that the mainland will offer Hong Kong two young giant pandas to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland next year.

They said the State Forestry Administration would provide two pandas from Qinling in Shaanxi province.

Giant pandas An'an and Jia Jia arrived at Ocean Park in Hong Kong in 1999 to mark the second anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. The two pandas have become a major attraction at the park in recent years, but the two are now ageing and suffering a number of diseases.

They are expected to be sent back to mainland research center for treatment.