Two giant pandas from China will arrive at Atlanta zoo in coming days, Xi says

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Two giant pandas from China will arrive at Zoo Atlanta in the coming days, renewing a loan initiative that had lapsed amid diplomatic friction between Beijing and Washington.

Chinese President Xi Jinping confirmed the timeline Thursday after China and the facility said in April that Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female, would travel to the United States.

Xi’s White House statement before talks with President Donald Trump offered the first public confirmation of the schedule. Beijing had recalled four pandas from Atlanta in 2024, ending the last active U.S. panda loans at the time.

Xi said Ping Ping and Fu Shuang "will come to their new home in Zoo Atlanta and meet with the American people" in "a few days." He described the update as "a piece of good news" and celebrated the program as showing "friendship between the Chinese and Americans."

The animals arrive under a conservation agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Both pandas were born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.

In 2024, Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun, and Xi Lun returned from Zoo Atlanta to China, concluding a 25-year arrangement and leaving the U.S. without any pandas for several months. The National Zoo in Washington sent back three pandas in 2023, receiving Bao Li and Qing Bao in October 2024. Other U.S. facilities previously returned pandas as agreements lapsed.

When Atlanta's pandas were officially promised in the spring, Zoo Atlanta CEO Raymond B. King welcomed "the wonder and joy of giant pandas" and said the zoo was "delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species."