Giant pandas arrive in Atlanta as part of 10-year US-China agreement

The two pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived from southwestern China.Two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, have arrived in the US state of Georgia on a 10-year loan as a soft-power gesture from China.A new agreement between Zoo Atlanta and the China-wildlife-conservation-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="210296" data-entity-type="organization">China Wildlife Conservation Association makes Atlanta one of three zoos in the US to house giant pandas.The diplomatic gifts departed early on Sunday from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwestern China, according to Chinese state media. They arrived after the high-level three-day Washington summit with China last week, where closed-door talks between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping yielded no major policy breakthroughs on prickly issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan and the war with Iran.Although the pandas’ transfer had been finalised back in April, Xi officially announced the arrival timeline on Thursday at the White House, noting that the black and white mammals could reach Zoo Atlanta from the Chengdu Research Base, China’s premier hub for giant panda conservation, breeding and research, within the next few days. The dispatch of the vulnerable species aimed to signal a renewed bilateral friendship between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.Ahead of their arrival, Zoo Atlanta had upgraded its panda habitats and secured a stable, long-term supply of locally grown Atlanta bamboo, which shares a near-identical climate with Chengdu.The bears completed a 16-hour charter flight across the International Date Line, landing in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly before 7:00am (11:00am GMT).