A Panda Express jet arrived in China on Friday carrying two furry former residents of US zoos, which experts hope will do their bit to boost dwindling numbers of the notoriously under-sexed species.

Tai Shan and Mei Lan - beloved by zoo-goers in Washington and Atlanta, where they were born in captivity - touched down in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, to join China's panda breeding program.

Chinese television carried live footage of their arrival, with a scrum of photographers battling to get a clear shot of the animals munching on bamboo in their specially fitted travel cages.

The state-run Global Times newspaper ran a huge piece on the female Mei Lan's mating prospects, stating: "It is all about the sex without the guilt."

The paper said breeders wanted her to "get busy as soon as possible", with the help of "panda porn", as the conservation centres try hard to encourage mating by one of the world's most endangered species.