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Xi Jinping Sends Two Pandas to Zoo Atlanta for 10 Years

By Drooid · Sep 27, 2026, 10:44 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Xi Jinping Loans Pandas

Xi Jinping announced a 10-year loan of two pandas to Zoo Atlanta.
Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang departed Chengdu at 2:55 a.m. Sunday.
They flew on a FedEx-operated Boeing 777 for about 15 hours with bamboo, carrots and corn buns.
Veterinarians and breeders will remain in Atlanta to assist the pandas during quarantine.
Zoo Atlanta renovated the enclosure and secured a stable supply of locally grown bamboo.

Summary

Trump Welcomes Xi

President Xi Jinping met President Donald Trump at the White House and announced pandas as a friendship gesture.
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi’s motorcade and declared a “great friendship.”
Chinese officials describe panda diplomacy as a soft-power tool to foster goodwill with foreign nations.
Xi said the pandas will arrive in Atlanta within days to “meet the American people.”

History

Historical Context

In 1972 President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing secured China’s first panda gift to the United States—Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing—under a ten-year loan that required a $1 million yearly care fee. Since the 1984 shift to lease agreements, China has used pandas as soft-power tools, a practice echoed by Xi Jinping’s 2024 loan of Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to Zoo Atlanta.

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Xi Jinping Loans Pandas

Xi Jinping announced a 10-year loan of two pandas to Zoo Atlanta.
Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang departed Chengdu at 2:55 a.m. Sunday.
They flew on a FedEx-operated Boeing 777 for about 15 hours with bamboo, carrots and corn buns.
Veterinarians and breeders will remain in Atlanta to assist the pandas during quarantine.
Zoo Atlanta renovated the enclosure and secured a stable supply of locally grown bamboo.

1 / 3