‘Panda Diplomacy’ Is Back And An American Zoo Just Hit The Jackpot

A pair of giant pandas will make their way to America as part of a ten-year agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, according to a statement from China on Friday. The male, Ping Ping, and the female, Fu Shuang, will relocate to Zoo Atlanta, becoming the third zoo in the United States to currently house the animals.

The announcement comes just weeks before President Donald Trump is set to visit Beijing, where he will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping.

Specific departure dates have not yet been given, but the zoo is currently working on facility upgrades and preparation work for the pandas’ arrival, per the statement.

Zoo Atlanta said Thursday that it was delighted and honored to be trusted to take care of the pandas. “We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas,” said the zoo’s president, Raymond B. King.

The zoo cited a previous panda agreement with the association from 1999 to 2024, which “resulted in a highly productive 25 years of partnership,” where pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang gave birth to seven cubs. They returned to China once the partnership concluded.

America was briefly “panda-less” in 2024 when several agreements ended, marking the first time without pandas in fifty years since the first pair arrived in 1972.

Pandas have long been a broader symbol of China’s ties to foreign nations, where the country loans them to strengthen its relationships; the animals are typically sent back when the agreement ends. “Panda diplomacy,” as it’s commonly called, has been a practice since the People’s Republic of China’s founding in 1949 and can conversely be used to show the nation’s negative feelings toward another country.

In 2010, China recalled two pandas from Zoo Atlanta after warnings from the nation of a meeting between then-President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama. Though there was no formal statement on the matter, some speculated the timing reflected Beijing’s displeasure with Washington.

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are the other two locations in the U.S. with pandas.