Giant Panda gives birth in Malaysia

Giant panda Liang-Liang, pictured on June 25, 2014 at the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur, gave birth to a cub Tuesday. [Photo/CFP]

KUALA LUMPUR -- A giant panda from China gave birth to a cub in Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday.

"Happily learnt the news that Liang Liang, panda at the national zoo, has safely given birth to a child at 1:45 noon (0345 GMT) just now," Najib said on his Twitter account.

Officials at the national zoo said experts and staff had been able to detect extraordinary behavior of the female panda over the past two weeks, and decided that there was an 80-percent probability that she was pregnant after blood test and measuring her weight, according to the state news agency Bernama.

Liang Liang showed labor symptoms when she was taken out to the exhibition Tuesday morning..

The gender of the cub has yet to be ascertained as the mother had kept it in a hidden corner, officials said.

Liang Liang, together with a male giant panda Xing Xing, arrived in Malaysia last year on a 10-year loan for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia.

The pair of panda were known in China as Fu Wa and Feng Yi.