The government said the arrival of the two China pandas planned for next Tuesday has been delayed due to "reasons that could not be avoided".

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry announced this today saying the ceremony to receive the giant pandas will be postponed "to a future date".

When contacted, its deputy minister James Dawos Mamit confirmed that the delay was due to the ongoing search for MH370.

"We had a meeting this afternoon... a meeting between our ministry and the China ambassador.

"I was chairing the meeting, and the ambassador said that his government would not want the pandas to come now due to the MH370 incident," said Mamit.

He added they will nevertheless arrive in the middle of May "before the PM visits China".

Last week the government maintained that the anger of the Chinese nationals over the Malaysian government's handling of the MH370 disappearance has not soured the two countries' ties.

Ties soured?

The sentiment of Chinese nationals anxious for news on the missing Beijing-bound flight took a nosedive after Prime Minister Najib Razak announced prematurely that MH370 had ended its journey in the Indian Ocean.

"The relations between China and Malaysia will not be damaged by the MH370 incident," Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang said last week .

"The celebrations in conjunction with the 40 years of diplomatic relations will go on as planned, especially the pair of pandas everyone is asking about."

The pandas were to arrive from Chengdu to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on the morning of April 15.

Malaysia had sent eight officers from the Wildlife and National Park Department (Perhilitan) and four veterinary experts for training in China to care for the animals in their new home here.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is also scheduled for an official visit to China in May to mark the 40-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.