Xi promises two pandas to Zoo Atlanta during U.S. visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised two giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta during his first U.S. state visit in over a decade, reviving China's longstanding panda diplomacy strategy. The announcement came at the start of his Washington meetings with President Donald Trump. The pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang from Chengdu, will arrive in Georgia "in the coming days," marking Zoo Atlanta's first bears since its previous four returned to China in November 2024. Xi made the pledge at a White House ceremony, calling pandas "an envoy of friendship between the Chinese and Americans." China has used pandas as a diplomatic tool since Mao Zedong sent a pair to Washington in 1972, shifting from gifts to loans in 1984. U.S. zoos have bred 17 cubs from loaned pandas. Xi also invited 100,000 young Americans to study in China over five years, though experts expect few major deliverables from the summit.