Xi says two giant pandas from China will arrive in the coming days at Atlanta’s zoo

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.

China and the zoo had said in April that Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female, would go to the United States. 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. 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.