Gesture by the Chinese leader after talks with President Joe Biden in California raises hopes that more of the beloved bears will soon return to US zoos.
Just a week after an adorable trio of giant pandas returned to China from Washington’s National Zoo, a comment from Chinese President Xi Jinping is renewing hopes that some new clumsy bears may soon be sent to the United States.
“I … learned that the San Diego Zoo and the Californians very much look forward to welcoming pandas back,” Xi said on Wednesday at a dinner in San Francisco attended by hundreds of American business leaders, hours after he met with US President Joe Biden.
Calling the pandas “envoys of friendship”, Xi said: “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.”
The exodus of the beloved pandas has come amid frosty ties between the two nations over tech competition, trade, Taiwan, the Ukraine war and the Middle East crisis.
