BEIJING - CHINA said on Wednesday it plans to send two pandas to rival Taiwan next week - the latest symbols of warming ties between the two sides.

Beijing first offered the pandas to Taiwan in 2005 but Taiwan's former leaders resisted the move, saying it was part of Chinese efforts to persuade the island to unify with the mainland.

Taiwan's current President Ma Ying-jeou, however, has tried to nurture closer ties with the mainland and accepted the pandas as a goodwill gesture.

'Judging from the circumstances now, the pandas will hopefully be sent to Taiwan on Dec 23,' said Mr Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office.

Chinese state media said last week that crate training and comfort food were part of the preparations for the trip for the two pandas.

The two are named 'Tuan Tuan' and 'Yuan Yuan,' which when linked mean 'reunion' in Chinese.

State media reported the two will travel to the Taipei Zoo accompanied by a veterinarian and a panda keeper, who will bring along a week's supply of the pair's favorite foods - bamboo, apples and steamed cornbread - to ease the adjustment.

In return for the pandas, Taiwan will send to China two Formosan serows, which are goatlike mammals unique to Taiwan.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing continues to claim the self-governing island as part of its territory, and has been using a blend of threats and diplomacy to try to bring Taiwan back into its fold. -- AP