Meng Meng and Jiao Qing

Aircraft of German airline Lufthansa are seldom if ever seen at Schönefeld, which is 20 kilometres south east of Berlin and in the state of Brandenburg. It's the 'poor man's' airport and will remain so until the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport is commissioned.

But yesterday the Mayor of Berlin Michael Müller and China's ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde were on hand to welcome two important arrivals on the Lufthansa flight from Chendu via Novosibirsk.

Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, two young pandas arrived in the German capital, taking up residence at Berlin Zoo.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. The pandas were sent as envoys of China-Germany friendship.