The United States may not be without the presence of giant pandas for long after Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated on Wednesday that he is open to continuing the conservation program.
Xi suggested that Beijing will send new pandas to U.S. zoos, calling the bears “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples."
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“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said during a dinner with business leaders in California, according to the Associated Press.
Giant pandas Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and their 3-year-old cub, Xiao Qi Ji, left for the China Wildlife Conservation Society on Nov. 8, nearly one month earlier than their stay's expiration date. The Smithsonian National Zoo's giant panda exhibit in Washington, D.C., now sits empty for the first time in 23 years. The bears came to the United States in 2000 as part of a $10 million deal with China, and their stay was renewed three times since 2010.
The Chinese president did not offer details as to when or where pandas will be provided to the U.S. but appeared to suggest that the next pair of pandas could come to California.
“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi said in his speech, referring to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
The Chinese president added that he learned the San Diego Zoo and Californians “very much look forward to welcoming pandas back.” The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas to China in 2019.
Pandas have long been a symbol of friendship and cooperation between China and the U.S., even as relations between the two governments have grown icy in recent years. Beijing first gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1972, later gifting pandas to other zoos across the United States. All the proceeds are given to panda conservation programs.
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature removed giant pandas from its list of endangered species in 2016 — a decision that Chinese officials challenged at the time and later affirmed in 2021.
Xi's comments came after hourslong conversations held that day with President Joe Biden and other business leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, California. It was Biden and Xi's second time meeting in person since he became president.