China’s panda diplomacy takes flight as two new arrivals head for Atlanta

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Two giant pandas have left China on a flight bound for their new home at a zoo in Atlanta, where they will live on loan from the Chinese government, the latest episode in Beijing’s long tradition of using “panda diplomacy” to strengthen ties with other countries.

They departed Chengdu, in southwestern China, in the early hours of Sunday morning local time, China’s state news agency Xinhua said. The flight came just a day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington concluded.

During that visit, which was intended to address rising tensions between the world’s two superpowers, Xi and US President Donald Trump extended a trade truce and agreed to establish an AI hotline between the two countries.

Loaning pandas has long been a tool of Chinese diplomacy.

“The giant panda has been an envoy of friendship between the Chinese and Americans,” Xi said on Thursday , referencing the half-century in which pandas lived in US zoos on loan from the Chinese government. That tradition was started by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1972, shortly after Richard Nixon became the first US president to visit China following the Communist Party’s rise to power in 1949.

One of the pandas bound for Atlanta even shares the same name – Ping Ping, meaning peace – as the first ever panda Mao gifted to the Soviet Union in 1957. He was born on March 17, 2020, has large black patches around his eyes and is especially good at climbing trees, according to China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The other panda, Fu Shuang, meaning double blessings, was born seven months later on October 18. She has a small tuft of fur on the top of her head, a slightly protruding forehead and finds food very easily, the administration said.

Zookeepers at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding selected the pair after considering their age, health, genetics and personality.

“They should be docile and like each other, and hopefully be able to mate naturally,” the park’s deputy director Li Mingxi told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

They are scheduled to arrive in Atlanta early on Sunday morning. The zoo has hosted several pandas before. Another pair, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, had seven offspring there between 2006 and 2016 before returning to Chengdu.

Peter Kovalev/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Xi wraps up Trump visit with tea at the White House and tour of National Archives

Their destination – Zoo Atlanta – earlier in the year said they would be “delighted and honored” to welcome the two pandas.

A banner displayed at the zoo on Saturday read “The future home of Ping Ping and Fu Shuang.”

A Zoo Atlanta representative said the facility would not share information about Ping Ping and Fu Shuang’s planned arrival date and declined to comment further.

Panda diplomacy has offered some relief from the tensions increasingly shaping the US-China relationship in recent years, as the two countries compete in an AI arms race and engage in a spiraling trade war.

Two giant pandas arrived in San Diego in June 2024, the first time China allowed new pandas to travel to the US in more than two decades, before a second pair travelled to Washington’s National Zoo later that year.

In preparation for the move, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang have been quarantined for a month with a roster of live-in carers, Li said. The pandas have been trained for their long flight too, becoming used to their crate and loud noises.

CNN’s Xiaoqian Lin, Farida Elsebai, Rebekah Riess and Mike Valerio contributed reporting.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

成都大熊猫繁育研究基地

两只大熊猫已离开中国，搭乘飞机前往它们位于亚特兰大动物园的新家。它们将由中国政府租借到那里生活。这是北京长期以来利用“熊猫外交”加强与其他国家关系的最新例证。

据中国官方通讯社新华社报道，他们于当地时间周日凌晨从中国西南部的成都起飞。此次航班起飞的前一天，中国国家主席习近平刚刚结束了对美国的国事访问。

在那次旨在解决世界两大超级大国之间日益紧张局势的访问中，习近平主席和美国总统唐纳德·特朗普延长了贸易休战期，并同意在两国之间建立人工智能热线。

长期以来，出借熊猫一直是中国的外交手段之一。

习近平周四表示，“大熊猫一直是中美友谊的使者”，他指的是过去半个世纪以来，中国政府将大熊猫租借到美国动物园饲养。这一传统始于1972年，由毛泽东主席发起，此前不久，理查德·尼克松成为自1949年中国共产党执政以来首位访问中国的美国总统。

即将前往亚特兰大的熊猫中，有一只甚至和1957年中国赠送给苏联的第一只熊猫“毛”同名——“平平”，寓意和平。据中国国家林业和草原局介绍，这只熊猫出生于2020年3月17日，眼睛周围有大块黑色斑块，而且特别擅长爬树。

另一只熊猫福双（寓意双喜临门）于七个月后的10月18日出生。据动物管理部门称，福双头顶有一小撮毛，额头略微突出，而且很容易找到食物。

成都大熊猫繁育研究基地的饲养员们综合考虑了熊猫的年龄、健康状况、基因和性格，最终选定了这对熊猫。

“它们应该性情温顺，彼此喜欢，希望能够自然交配，”公园副园长李明喜告诉中国中央电视台。

它们预计将于周日清晨抵达亚特兰大。该动物园此前曾饲养过几只熊猫。另一对熊猫“伦伦”和“阳阳”在2006年至2016年间曾在此繁育了七只幼崽，之后返回成都。

Peter Kovalev/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

习近平结束对特朗普的访问，在白宫喝茶并参观了国家档案馆。

它们的目的地——亚特兰大动物园——在今年早些时候表示，他们将“非常高兴和荣幸”欢迎这两只熊猫。

周六，动物园里挂出了一条横幅，上面写着“萍萍和福爽的未来家园”。

亚特兰大动物园的一位代表表示，该动物园不会透露平平和福爽的预计抵达日期，并拒绝进一步置评。

近年来，随着美中两国在人工智能领域展开军备竞赛，并陷入不断升级的贸易战，两国关系日益紧张，熊猫外交在一定程度上缓解了这种紧张局势。

2024 年 6 月，两只大熊猫抵达圣地亚哥，这是二十多年来中国首次允许新的大熊猫前往美国。同年晚些时候，第二对大熊猫前往华盛顿国家动物园。

李先生表示，为了做好搬迁准备，平平和福爽已经与几位住家饲养员一起隔离了一个月。这两只熊猫也接受了长途飞行训练，逐渐适应了笼子和各种噪音。

CNN的林晓倩、法里达·埃尔塞拜、丽贝卡·里斯和迈克·瓦莱里奥对此报道亦有贡献。

这是一则正在更新的新闻。