Chinese, U.S. first ladies name panda cub at Washington zoo

China's First Lady Peng Liyuan and her U.S. counterpart Michelle Obama on Friday jointly named a panda baby at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

The panda cub was named "Bei Bei", which means "precious treasure" in Chinese and has similar pronunciation as the English word "baby". It was one of the two cubs born at the zoo on Aug. 22, but the other died four days later.

Upon their arrival at the panda house of the zoo, the two first ladies were greeted by zoo officials and kids from the Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School, who also presented some performance.

Besides attending the naming ceremony, they also visited the cub's father Tian Tian, an 18-year-old giant panda born in Wolong of China's southwestern Sichuan Province and now on loan to the National Zoo in Washington D.C..

Peng is in town accompanying her husband, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on his first state visit to the United States.

In her speech, Michelle Obama noted that Friday's gathering was aimed at enhancing cultural and linguistic exchanges between the American and Chinese people, which was also an important topic for discussions between the two heads of state during Xi's visit.

She expressed the hope that more people from the younger generations of both nations would take an active part in bilateral people-to-people exchanges.

For her part, Peng called the giant panda an "emotional link" between the two peoples.

"I'm really glad to learn that it is so popular and adored here in America, and I believe it would bring more fun and friendship to people of both countries, especially our kids," she said. Endi