China to send two giant pandas to Atlanta again

Atlanta will have giant pandas again. China on Friday announced it will send two giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta in the US, in Beijing’s latest efforts of panda diplomacy despite tensions with Washington, and less than a month before a much-anticipated visit by US President Donald Trump to Beijing.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association said in a statement that male panda Ping Ping and female panda Fu Shuang, from the Chengdu Research



Base of Giant Panda Breeding, will kick off a decade-long conservation cooperation under an agreement it signed with the zoo last year.

The association did not specify their departure date but said the US side was actively carrying out facility upgrades, among other preparation work, to create a more comfortable and safer environment for the pair. In the meantime, Chinese experts were providing technical guidance on the upgrades, it said.