China on Friday agreed to send two giant pandas to the United States in a renewed display of “panda diplomacy,” a move that comes weeks before a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The announcement comes less than a month before Trump is expected to travel to Beijing for high-level talks with Xi in mid-May, where trade and geopolitical tensions are likely to dominate the discussion.
The China Wildlife Conservation Association said a male panda, Ping Ping, and a female, Fu Shuang, will be sent to Zoo Atlanta as part of a new 10-year conservation agreement.
Chinese officials framed the panda transfer as part of a broader effort to strengthen scientific cooperation and cultural ties between the countries, even as relations remain strained.
The new agreement will focus on research areas including disease prevention, breeding, and conservation, according to the Asian country’s authorities.
“Panda diplomacy” is China’s long-standing practice of sending giant pandas abroad and has historically been used to signal goodwill and maintain diplomatic relationships. The animals have served as symbolic ambassadors since at least the 1970s, when Beijing gifted pandas to the U.S. following the normalization of relations.
The latest exchange follows a period in which pandas largely disappeared from U.S. zoos as loan agreements expired amid worsening bilateral tensions.
Zoo Atlanta officials said they are preparing upgraded facilities to house the incoming pandas, with Chinese experts providing technical guidance ahead of their arrival.
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The zoo previously hosted pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, for more than two decades under a partnership that produced seven cubs, making it one of the most successful breeding programs outside China. Lun Lun, Yang Yang, and their seven bears left for China in 2024, leaving the zoo without the bamboo-eating bears for a time.
However, in 2024, the National Zoo in Washington and the San Diego Zoo received pandas from China.