BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The happiest couple of the 11 nominated finalists of giant pandas will be sent to Taiwan, said a panda expert at a regular news briefing given by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Thursday morning.

    Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong center and head of the nine-member expert panel for the giant panda selection, said the Chinese mainland has shortlisted 11 giant pandas -- six males and five females -- out of 23, for "trial marriages" before the most adorable couple are determined.

    "Next, we will let the final candidates spend time with each other to see which two interact the best," Zhang said. "It's sort of a courting ritual."

    "We must wait and see which couple is the soul mate as a female giant panda always has strict standard for her sexual partners," he said.

    According to the expert, the "trial marriages" among the 11 shortlisted pandas will last for at least three weeks, shorter than the 23 giant pandas that were singled out.

    The process of giant panda selection commenced in early August at the China Giant Pandas Research Center in Wolong, the largest panda protection zone in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

    Altogether 23 candidates were chosen in the first round, which lasted for more than a month, by a nine-member expert group in accordance with "rigorous" standards which covered physiology, psychology, behavior, appearance, genetics and age.

    Strict standards were necessary because, on the one hand, Zhangsaid, it is a significant and serious job to find and send a compatible male and female that will eventually breed in Taiwan.

    "On the other hand, we had a larger margin for selection as thenumber of giant pandas surged from 10 to 80 in Wolong over the past 22 years thanks to a resolution of three difficult problems related to oestrus, pregnancy and infant livability of giant pandas," said the expert.

    The number of giant pandas in captivity totaled 163 in the Chinese mainland by the end of last year, half of which live in the Wolong center. The number of wild pandas in China is more than1,590.

    "We hope a healthy and adorable panda couple will finally be sent to Taiwan and raise up seed there," Zhang said.

    The mainland offered Taiwan a pair of pandas in one of its goodwill gestures to the island province at the end of a historic visit by Lien Chan, chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) or the Nationalist Party in Taiwan, in early May.

    The decision of presenting a pair of pandas to Taiwan was welcomed by compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. A survey published by the Taiwan media showed that more than 70 percent of the respondents welcomed the coming of the giant pandas.

    The mainland has done a great deal for presenting a pair of pandas as a gift to Taiwan, including welcoming Taiwan techniciansto come to learn giant panda breeding and reproduction technologies. It would also like to send experts to Taiwan for technical service if necessary.

    "However, its realization would need coordination of relevant departments on both sides of the straits," said Li Weiyi, spokesman of the Taiwan Affair Office.

    He called for more active response from Taiwan, so that the compatriots in Taiwan would see the lovely pair of pandas as soon as possible.

    Li also announced that Lien Chan, who is now honorary presidentof the Kuomintang, will make a second visit to the mainland and is expected to pay a visit to the Wolong natural reserve. Enditem