Giant pandas arrive in Atlanta as part of 10-year US-China agreement

The two pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived from southwestern China.

The “FedEx Panda Express” arrives at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Georgia on Sunday [FedEx/AP]

Two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, have arrived in the US state of Georgia on a 10-year loan as a soft-power gesture from China.

A new agreement between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association makes Atlanta one of three zoos in the US to house giant pandas .

The diplomatic gifts departed early on Sunday from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwestern China, according to Chinese state media. They arrived after the high-level three-day Washington summit with China last week, where closed-door talks between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping yielded no major policy breakthroughs on prickly issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan and the war with Iran.

Although the pandas’ transfer had been finalised back in April, Xi officially announced the arrival timeline on Thursday at the White House, noting that the black and white mammals could reach Zoo Atlanta from the Chengdu Research Base, China’s premier hub for giant panda conservation, breeding and research, within the next few days. The dispatch of the vulnerable species aimed to signal a renewed bilateral friendship between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.

Ahead of their arrival, Zoo Atlanta had upgraded its panda habitats and secured a stable, long-term supply of locally grown Atlanta bamboo, which shares a near-identical climate with Chengdu.

The bears completed a 16-hour charter flight across the International Date Line, landing in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly before 7:00am (11:00am GMT).

Midway through its journey through Alaska, the FedEx Boeing 777 had spiked to the top of Flightradar24’s global tracking charts.

Steamed corn buns, bamboo shoots and carrots were prepared to keep the pandas nourished during their flight, Chinese state-run media reported. The US also mobilised a specialised care team to accompany the duo on their flight, they said.

A spokesperson for the zoo told Al Jazeera that their team had “done everything possible to accommodate them”, but a definitive timeline for their arrival – much less their public debut – remains “unconfirmed”.

“This is a thrilling day for Zoo Atlanta and a historic moment for the City of Atlanta, the state of Georgia and beyond,” Zoo Atlanta President and CEO Raymond B. King said in a statement. “We are elated to welcome Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and could not be more excited about sharing that joy with our Members, guests, city and community in the coming weeks.”

Zoo visitors will have to wait a while to see Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, officials said. The bears will be quarantined for about a month in a biosecure area of the wildlife park’s new giant panda complex. The zoo last had pandas in 2024.

Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female, were born in 2020.

Globally revered, the iconic furry animals have been sent across the globe for decades, serving as diplomatic emissaries loaned by China under its infamous “panda diplomacy” initiative through soft-power projection. Beijing leverages the animals’ immense public appeal to cultivate international goodwill, seal lucrative trade deals and burnish its geopolitical image abroad. Similarly, when foreign relationships fray or tensions arise, Beijing lets the loan agreements expire.

Xi has said this latest loan programme was an example of “friendship between the Chinese and Americans”.

Last week’s summit was Xi’s first visit to Washington in more than a decade and the second meeting this year with Trump.

Tangible outcomes of the meetings remain modest , restricted to a two-month extension of the trade truce, Beijing’s revival of giant panda loans and Xi’s support for Trump’s rebranding of artificial intelligence as “super intelligence”.

两只熊猫，平平和福爽，来自中国西南地区。

周日，“联邦快递熊猫快运”抵达佐治亚州哈茨菲尔德-杰克逊国际机场 [联邦快递/美联社]

两只大熊猫“平平”和“福爽”已抵达美国佐治亚州，这是中国为展现软实力而进行的为期 10 年的租借。

亚特兰大动物园与中国野生动物保护协会达成一项新协议，使亚特兰大成为美国仅有的三家饲养大熊猫的动物园之一。

据中国官方媒体报道，这批外交礼物于周日清晨从中国西南部的成都双流国际机场启程。此前，中美上周在华盛顿举行了为期三天的高级别峰会。在峰会上，美国总统特朗普和中国国家主席习近平的闭门会谈并未在人工智能、贸易、台湾和伊朗战争等棘手问题上取得重大政策突破。

尽管大熊猫的转移早在四月份就已敲定，但习近平主席周四在白宫正式宣布了它们的抵达时间表。他指出，这些黑白相间的哺乳动物将在未来几天内从中国最重要的大熊猫保护、繁育和研究中心——成都大熊猫研究基地抵达亚特兰大动物园。此次大熊猫的转移旨在象征着世界两大经济体领导人之间友谊的再度升温。

在熊猫到来之前，亚特兰大动物园升级了熊猫的栖息地，并确保了本地种植的亚特兰大竹子的稳定、长期供应，亚特兰大的气候与成都的气候几乎相同。

这些熊完成了一次历时 16 小时的包机飞行，跨越了国际日期变更线，于早上 7 点（格林尼治标准时间上午 11 点）前不久抵达佐治亚州亚特兰大。

在飞越阿拉斯加的中途，联邦快递的波音 777 客机一度跃升至 Flightradar24 全球航班追踪排行榜的榜首。

据中国官方媒体报道，为了让熊猫在飞行途中保持营养，准备了玉米包、竹笋和胡萝卜等食物。报道还称，美国方面也调集了一支专门的护理团队陪同它们飞行。

动物园发言人告诉半岛电视台，他们的团队“已尽一切可能为他们提供便利”，但他们抵达的确切时间表，更不用说他们的公开亮相时间，仍然“尚未确定”。

“对于亚特兰大动物园来说，今天是激动人心的一天，对于亚特兰大市、佐治亚州乃至更广阔的地区来说，这也是一个历史性的时刻，”亚特兰大动物园总裁兼首席执行官雷蒙德·B·金在一份声明中表示。“我们非常高兴地欢迎平平和福爽的到来，并无比期待在接下来的几周里与我们的会员、游客、城市和社区分享这份喜悦。”

动物园官员表示，游客们需要等待一段时间才能见到平平和福爽。这两只熊猫将在野生动物园新建的大熊猫馆的生物安全区域内进行大约一个月的隔离检疫。该动物园上一次引进大熊猫是在2024年。

平平（男）和傅爽（女）出生于 2020 年。

这些享誉全球的标志性毛茸茸动物几十年来一直被中国派往世界各地，作为其著名的“熊猫外交”软实力投射计划的外交使节。北京利用熊猫巨大的公众号召力来培养国际友好关系、达成利润丰厚的贸易协议并提升其在海外的地缘政治形象。同样地，当外交关系恶化或出现紧张局势时，北京就会让这些借调协议到期失效。

习近平表示，这项最新的贷款计划是“中美友谊”的体现。

上周的峰会是习近平十多年来首次访问华盛顿，也是今年与特朗普的第二次会晤。

会谈的实际成果仍然有限，仅限于将贸易休战期延长两个月、北京重启大熊猫贷款项目以及习近平支持特朗普将人工智能重新命名为“超级智能”。