Giant panda Ying Ying gave birth to a pair of twin cubs at southwestern China's Wolong Giant Panda Center in Sichuan province, state press said.
"This marks the beginning of the year's breeding season for China's captive giant pandas," Cao Qingyao, the center's spokesman told the China Daily. The birthing took 13 hours on Sunday, the newspaper said, adding the mother and cubs were declared fit and given a clean bill of health.
One of the babies was taken from Ying Ying as the endangered species usually only nurtures one cub at a time, it said. Experts will initially rear the other cub before returning the baby to the mother when it becomes stronger.
A total of 74 cubs have been born at the Wolong center, China's most advanced panda breeding center, with 61 surviving.
