Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday (September 24, 2026) that two giant pandas from China will arrive at Zoo Atlanta in the coming days, bolstering a loan program that at one time had lapsed as part of tensions between Beijing and Washington.
But Mr. Xi’s announcement at the White House, in opening remarks before talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, marked the first public confirmation of the timing. Mr. When the pandas’ Atlanta return was officially promised in the spring, Zoo Atlanta CEO Raymond B.
Beijing had reclaimed four pandas from Atlanta in 2024, the last of the animals on loan from China to the U.S. at the time.
China and the zoo had said in April that Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female, would go to the United States. 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 called it “a piece of good news” and hailed the panda loan program as an example of “friendship between the Chinese and Americans. King celebrated “the wonder and joy of giant pandas” and said his facility was “delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species.”
