Two giant panda cubs from China -- Jiu Jiu and Hua Hua -- arrived safely in Atlanta, Georgia State, USA, from Beijing Friday after a 17-hour-long journey, and will spend the text 10 years in their new home at the Atlanta Zoo.

Atlanta Zoo Director Terry Maple "signed" for the special delivery during a welcoming ceremony at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport with more than 200 dignitaries and elementary school children looking on.

The United Parcel Service (US took the responsibility for carrying the two panda cubs from China to the city, the first time since 1996 that giant pandas made the trip to the United States.

The two pandas will join four others of their species in the United States, three at the San Diego Zoo and one at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

The USfinanced the design and building of containers to house the pandas during their journey in the specially equipped Boeing 767.

To ensure safety of the pandas, the company also arranged three veterinarians and fresh bamboo to accompany the pandas on their flight.

Upon their arrival at the airport, the pandas traveled to the Atlanta Zoo in a US"Panda-cade," with police escorting four uniquely wrapped USpackage cars.

Born September 9, 1997, Jiu Jiu is male and has a good disposition, while the female Hua Hua, six months older, is more active and aggressive. Both pandas are in excellent health.

The two pandas were both born in the breeding center for pandas in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in southwest China, known as the home of pandas in the country.

Sponsored by Coca-Cola Co., Chinese and American scientists are working together to develop an international breeding program to protect the endangered pandas, and the arrival of the two cubs, part of the program, is aimed to provide research opportunities for US zoologists.

The Atlanta Zoo has spent seven million US dollars on a luxurious habitat for the cubs, including three indoor apartments, two outdoor air-conditioned playgrounds, and plenty of bamboo. Caca-Cola Co. has donated 500,000 US dollars for the construction of the habitat.

The zoo has announced that the giant pandas will go on public display at the Atlanta Zoo starting November 20.

The giant panda is now facing extinction. There are about 1,000 pandas in the world now, most of them living in the mountains of the Sichuan Basin. The number of artificially-bred pandas is 120. (Xinhua)