The U.S. national zoo said Wednesday it will welcome a new pair of giant pandas from China, six months after Americans bid a fond farewell to three of the rare black-and-white bear species.
China will send two 2-year-old giant pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, to Washington by the end of this year, according to an announcement by the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The gesture comes at a time when relations between the two countries remain fraught with tensions.
A light-hearted video unveiling the new pair's planned arrival featured first lady Jill Biden, who said she cannot wait to celebrate "this historic moment here in our nation's capital."
The sooner-than-expected return of the beloved bamboo-chewing species to the Washington zoo will happen as the United States prepares for the Nov. 5 general election, with tough policies against China often floated by both President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump, the two main candidates.
In a meeting with U.S. business leaders last November during a trip to the San Francisco area that included face-to-face talks with Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping hinted that new pandas could be sent as "envoys of friendship."
Bao Li, whose name means "treasure" and "energetic" in Chinese, has connections with Washington as his mother, Bao Bao, was born at the national zoo in 2013. Qing Bao is female and her name means "green" and "treasure."
The departure of two giant pandas and their cub from the zoo to China last November due to the expiry of loan agreements left Zoo Atlanta as the sole remaining facility on U.S. soil to have pandas.
But its four giant pandas are set to return to China later this year, while the San Diego zoo is due to welcome two new pandas.
China's so-called panda diplomacy with the United States began in 1972 when it first gifted a pair to the national zoo after then President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to Beijing, which paved the way for the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
In welcoming the new pair this year, Brandie Smith, the zoo and biology institute's director, said in a statement, "This historic moment is proof positive our collaboration with Chinese colleagues has made an irrefutable impact."
A new cooperative research and breeding agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association is now in effect through April 2034.
The terms of the loan are similar to previous agreements, with all cubs born at the zoo to remain under the ownership of China and move to China by age 4, according to the Washington zoo.
The zoo said it will pay $1 million each year to the Chinese association to help its research and conservation efforts.
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