A nine-year-old giant panda gave birth to two cubs yesterday morning at a breeding base in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Qi Zhen, or Magic Treasure, delivered the twins at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center.

Born two days after the opening of the Olympics, the cubs were named after two of the Games' mascots, Bei Bei and Huan Huan.

Huan Huan, a female, weighed 98 grams. No information on the first-born Bei Bei is available, as Qi Zhen has refused to let the cub be examined by research staff.

The Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center has seen the birth of eight giant pandas this year, bringing the number of pandas at the center to 75.

Qi Zhen's twin sister, Qi Yuan, or Magic Luck, gave birth to a pair of female cubs weighing 135 grams and 132 grams in late July.

Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered animals. There are only about 1,590 of them living in the wild in China.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2008)