French president celebrates birthday with panda cub Yuan Meng

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday visited Yuan Meng, the country's first-ever panda cub, while he was celebrating his 40th birthday with family at Beauval zoo in central France, the zoo said in a statement.

"The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron came to celebrate his 40th birthday at the ZooParc de Beauval, with his family, during a private visit ... to Yuan Meng, the baby panda godson of Brigitte Macron," the zoo added.

During a naming ceremony on Dec 4, French First Lady, new panda's godmother, announced with Chinese officials that the four-month-old cub's name was Yuan Meng which means "dream comes true" in Chinese.

Born on Aug 4, the baby panda had been called as "Mini Yuan Zi", referring to his father Yuan Zi, who arrived with his female partner Huan Huan in central France's Beauval zoo in Jan 2012.

The panda baby, who will return home at the age of three, can be seen by visitors to the zoo as of Jan 13.