Xi Jinping's 'Envoys of Friendship': Two Pandas to Be Sent to the U.S. Again

[Financial News, New York—Correspondent Lee Byung-chul]  Chinese President Xi Jinping promised at his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump to send two pandas to the United States. Although Washington and Beijing are locked in fierce disputes over tariffs, artificial intelligence (AI) and Taiwan, panda diplomacy—which has served as a buffer in bilateral relations for more than 50 years—is being revived.
Xi held a summit with President Trump at the White House on the 24th, local time, and announced that China would soon send two pandas to Zoo Atlanta. Xi described the pandas as "envoys of friendship."
The pandas bound for the United States are Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female. Zoo Atlanta has been negotiating with China to bring in new pandas since returning its previous panda family to China in October 2024. The zoo's signing of a new research agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association last August opened the way for it to receive another pair of pandas. Xi's announcement formally confirmed their trip to the United States.
Pandas have symbolized diplomacy between the United States and China for more than half a century. It began with then-U.S. President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972. After First Lady Pat Nixon told then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, "I like pandas," China sent a pair, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., two months later.
Since then, pandas have become a leading soft-power diplomatic tool that appears whenever U.S.-China relations improve. Major U.S. zoos, including Zoo Atlanta, San Diego Zoo and Memphis Zoo, have borrowed pandas from China.
However, panda diplomacy faced a crisis as tensions between the United States and China intensified. The pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., returned to China in 2023, and Atlanta's panda family left the following year. With pandas temporarily gone from the United States, some even interpreted their disappearance as a symbol of worsening U.S.-China relations.
The mood began to change when Xi visited San Francisco in November 2023. At the time, he said, "I heard that many Americans, especially children, were very sad to say goodbye to the pandas," leaving open the possibility of sending pandas back.
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao arrived at San Diego Zoo in June 2024, followed by Bao Li and Qing Bao at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., in October of the same year. With Atlanta now set to receive pandas again, the United States will gain another venue for panda diplomacy.


[email protected] Correspondent Lee Byung-chul Reporter