Beijing– There will be giant pandas in Atlanta again.
China announced on Friday that it would send two giant pandas Zoo Atlanta in AmericaBeijing’s latest efforts panda diplomacy Despite tensions with Washington, and less than a month before the much-anticipated US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.
The China Wildlife Conservation Union said in a statement that male panda Ping Ping and female panda Fu Shuang Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda BreedingAn agreement signed with the zoo last year will mark the beginning of a decade-long conservation collaboration.
The association did not specify the date of their departure, but said the US side was actively carrying out facility upgrades along with other preparatory work to create a more comfortable and safe environment for the pair. Meanwhile, Chinese experts were providing technical guidance on the upgrade, it said.
The announcement comes weeks ahead of Trump’s planned visit to China in mid-May, during which he is expected to discuss a variety of issues including trade with his counterpart Xi Jinping.
Zoo Atlanta said in a statement Thursday that it is pleased and honored to be trusted as steward of the pandas and to partner with the association.
Zoo President Raymond B. “We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and welcome our members, guests, the city and the community back to the wonder and joy of the giant panda,” King said.
Pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang gave birth to seven bears, the zoo said, during the first giant panda agreement between the zoo and China to be concluded in 2024. It says Lun Lun and Yang Yan and their two youngest children left Atlanta in October 2024 for China, where their remaining children live.
China’s giant panda loan program has long been known as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy, but its conservation importance may be a key reason Beijing is renewing its cooperation with US zoos at a time of otherwise sour relations.
The association said on Friday that the new round of cooperation will help China and the US achieve greater results in areas ranging from disease prevention and treatment to scientific exchanges.
Giant pandas have long been a symbol of the US-China friendship, ever since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972.
in 2024 National Zoo in washington and San Diego Zoo Pandas were also received from China.
