Chinese giant pandas unveiled to public in Finland

China agreed to loan the pandas for 15 years as a gift to Finland, which celebrated 100 years of independence from Russia last year.

Two giant pandas on loan from China have been unveiled at a zoo in central Finland and they have frolicked, galloped, climbed trees and played in the snow after a month-long quarantine.

Female panda Jin Bao Bao, named Lumi in Finnish, plays in the snow on the opening day of the Snowpanda Resort in Ahtari Zoo, in Ahtari, Finland, on Saturday. (AP)

Hua Bao, a four-year-old male, and three-year-old female Jin Baobao arrived in Finland on January 18 and were immediately renamed Pyry (Snowfall) and Lumi (Snow) in Finnish. The Ahtari Zoo, 330 kilometers north of Helsinki, built a special Panda House annex for the pair.

Female panda Lumi plays in the snow during the opening day of the Ahtari Zoo Snowpanda Resort in Ahtari, Finland. (Reuters Photo)

China agreed to loan the pandas for 15 years as a gift to Finland, which celebrated 100 years of independence from Russia last year.

China has presented pandas to countries as a sign of goodwill and closer political ties, with Finland being the first Nordic nation to receive them.