'Panda bond' continues as China sends giant pandas to US zoo

Two giant pandas from China are headed to Atlanta on a new 10-year conservation deal.

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BEIJING: Two giant pandas from China are headed to Atlanta on a new 10-year conservation deal.

Pandas Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female, will live at Zoo Atlanta, China Wildlife Conservation Association said in a statement Friday (Apr 24).

The organization signed the research agreement with the United States zoo last year, it said, noting the deal continues "the 'panda bond' shared by the people of both nations for more than 20 years".

The panda pair come from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwestern Sichuan province, according to the statement. 

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"Zoo Atlanta is delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species," the zoo's president Raymond B King said in a statement.

"We can't wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang."

The zoo welcomed its first giant pandas Yang Yang and Lun Lun when they arrived in 1999.

That pair produced seven cubs over a 25-year agreement before returning to China with their two youngest in 2024, when that deal expired.

The US side has prepared for Ping Ping and Fu Shuang's arrival by renovating their habitat to make it "more comfortable and more safe", the Chinese association said. 

The panda news comes as US President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing next month.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday the new deal "will contribute to the well-being of giant pandas ... and the friendship between the people of China and the US". 

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