Trump and Xi's summit revives panda diplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday during a visit with President Trump that China will send two pandas to Zoo Atlanta, calling them an "envoy of friendship." Why it matters: The fuzzy ambassadors have long been one of China's most beloved tools of soft power and could signal an attempt to cool tensions in U.S.–China relations. Driving the news: Xi made the remarks Thursday during his three-day visit to D.C., where he and Trump are expected to discuss AI, economic ties and critical minerals before a state dinner. Trump hailed their "truly great friendship" and greeted Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews earlier Thursday, a rare move not usually offered to heads of state visiting the U.S. Zoom in: China typically loans pandas abroad for set terms as a sign of goodwill, and these pandas would be the first at Zoo Atlanta since its previous pandas returned to China in 2024. Zoo Atlanta confirmed to Axios on Thursday that the pandas Xi mentioned are the same ones the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association announced in April. Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang are both from China's Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Zoom out: China has also used its pandas as a cudgel when foreign relationships turn frosty. Pandas living at the National Zoo in D.C. returned to China in 2023 when their agreement expired, as Washington and Beijing butted heads over security, economic and humanitarian issues. Two new pandas returned a year later under a new agreement. Wild giant pandas are native to China, meaning other nations wishing to observe them typically must receive them from Beijing. Flashback: The National Zoo's first pandas arrived during President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon made a historic trip to China in 1972 that opened a new chapter in U.S.–China relations. At a dinner in Beijing, Pat told Chinese officials she had fallen in love with the furballs, and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai replied, "I'll give you some." Two months later, they arrived, and Pat predicted there would be "panda-monium" at the zoo — and she was right. Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were the zoo's top attractions until they died in the 1990s. Watch: Go deeper: "Envoys of friendship": China set to send giant pandas to San Diego Zoo

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