Large panda Xiao Qi Ji performs at his enclosure on the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo in Washington in September.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Large panda Xiao Qi Ji performs at his enclosure on the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo in Washington in September.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
SAN FRANCISCO — Chinese language President Xi Jinping signaled that China will ship new pandas to the USA, calling them ”envoys of friendship between the Chinese language and American peoples.”
”We’re able to proceed our cooperation with the USA on panda conservation, and do our greatest to fulfill the needs of the Californians in order to deepen the pleasant ties between our two peoples,” Xi mentioned Wednesday throughout a dinner speech with enterprise leaders.
The gesture got here on the finish of a day by which Xi and President Biden held their first head to head assembly in a 12 months and pledged to attempt to cut back tensions. Xi didn’t share extra particulars on when or the place pandas may be supplied however appeared to counsel the following pair of pandas are almost certainly to return to California, in all probability San Diego.
The bears have lengthy been the image of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the Nationwide Zoo in Washington in 1972, forward of the normalization of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to different U.S. zoos, with proceeds going again to panda conservation packages.
The Nationwide Zoo’s three large pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, eight days in the past started their lengthy journey to China. After their departure, solely 4 pandas are left in the USA, within the Atlanta Zoo.
”I used to be advised that many American folks, particularly kids, have been actually reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas, and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi mentioned in his speech. He added that he discovered the San Diego Zoo and folks in California ”very a lot sit up for welcoming pandas again.”
Xi is in California to attend a summit of Indo-Pacific leaders and for his assembly with Biden. He made no point out of the pandas throughout his public remarks earlier within the day as he met with Biden.
When bilateral relations started to bitter up to now few years, members of the Chinese language public began to demand the return of large pandas. Unproven allegations that U.S. zoos mistreated the pandas, referred to as China’s ”nationwide treasure,” flooded China’s social media.
However relations confirmed indicators of stabilization as Xi traveled to San Francisco to fulfill with Biden. The 2 males met for about 4 hours Wednesday on the picturesque Filoli Historic Home & Backyard, the place they agreed to cooperate on anti-narcotics, resume high-level navy communications and increase people-to-people exchanges.
The Nationwide Zoo’s trade settlement with the China Wildlife Conservation Affiliation had been set to run out in early December and negotiations to resume or lengthen the deal didn’t produce outcomes.
The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the final bear on the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went dwelling earlier this 12 months.