Two pandas sent by China released at Atlanta Zoo

Local media reported on the 7th (local time) that two pandas sent by China as an outcome of the US-China summit were released to the public in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

According to the Associated Press and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), the day before, the Atlanta Zoo introduced giant pandas 'Pingping' and 'Fushuang' in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng and 200 general visitors.

These will be used in joint research between the United States and China over the next 10 years.

Ambassador Xuefeng said, "The two pandas that arrived in the United States are a symbol of the decades-long friendly relationship between China and Atlanta, and Atlanta will become a new home for the pandas where they will live happily."

“Seeing a panda in person was the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Rachel Sutherland, a family member from Sacramento, California, told the Associated Press.

The Atlanta Zoo has been raising giant pandas Yangyang and Lunlun since 1999 and breeding seven cubs, but after all of them returned to China in 2024, the breeding facility was left empty.

However, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at a White House summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on September 24 that he would send two pandas to Atlanta.

This brings the total number of giant pandas in the United States to six. In addition to Atlanta, there are currently two at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and two at the San Diego Zoo.

China has been carrying out so-called 'panda diplomacy' by sending pandas to other countries to strengthen friendly relations.

After then-US President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972, the Chinese government sent two giant pandas to the US, and 'panda diplomacy' has served as a barometer showing the current state of US-China relations.