Two giant pandas left Chengdu in southwestern China early Sunday, bound for Atlanta under a new panda-loan agreement between the Chinese and US governments.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced their expected arrival during a three-day visit to Washington, where he met with US President Trump.
The pandas’ return to Atlanta Zoo emerged as one of the few tangible results of the state visit. Although Xi and Trump exchanged gestures of goodwill, their talks did not resolve the broader, long-running disputes between China and the United States.
Atlanta’s previous pandas departed in 2024, leaving the zoo without the popular black-and-white bears for the first time in years.
Officials first revealed the latest panda agreement in April, though they did not provide a timetable for the animals’ arrival at the time.
The two adult pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, will live at Zoo Atlanta for 10 years under the terms of the agreement.
Both pandas were born in 2020 and have been cared for at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, Ping Ping has distinctive dark rings around his eyes, while Fu Shuang can be recognized by her slightly prominent forehead.
China has used giant pandas as diplomatic ambassadors for decades, sending the animals abroad through loan programs that signal goodwill. Those arrangements have sometimes been allowed to expire when relations with other countries deteriorate.
Xi has described the panda program as a symbol of “friendship between the Chinese and Americans.”
