Two giant pandas were flying home from France to China for retirement on Tuesday, after the female was diagnosed with kidney failure.

Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi arrived at the Beauval Zoo in central France in 2012 as part of China's "panda diplomacy" programme. The two pandas, both 17, were meant to stay in France until January 2027, but they will now live out their retirement at China's Chengdu panda sanctuary.

The pair were loaded onto a plane at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, each in their own box dotted with ventilation holes, with the words "Bon voyage" inscribed on the side.

More than 200 well-wishers had braved the cold and rain on Sunday to say farewell, including one couple dressed head-to-toe in panda-themed gear, who say they have visited the bears "more than a thousand times" since their arrival in 2012.

Patrice Colombel, an electronics technician, and his wife Veronique, an administrative assistant at a secondary school, told AFP they would not have missed the chance to see them off.

"They are the first pandas we have ever known. We wanted to be there to say goodbye to them," the couple visiting from the southwest city of Bordeaux said.

The pair produced three cubs while in France – the first pandas to do so in the country – and became star attractions at the Beauval zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, which welcomed some two million visitors in 2023. The eldest of the offspring, Yuan Meng, left France for China in 2023.

Panda keeper Delphine Pouvreau said their departure would be "very hard" for the caretakers, who have forged a strong bond with the bears.

"We experienced the first birth of a baby panda in France here," she said, adding the memory would remain "engraved in our hearts".

Only about 20 zoos outside China have pandas, which have become a symbol of Beijing's diplomatic friendships. (AFP)