Current:Home > reviewsChinese president signals more pandas will be coming to the United States-VaTradeCoin
Chinese president signals more pandas will be coming to the United States
lotradecoin affiliate program details View Date:2024-12-25 22:31:25
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled late Wednesday that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”
“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 speech with business leaders.
The gesture came at the end of a day in which Xi and President Joe Biden held their first face to face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions. Xi did not share additional details on when or where pandas might be provided but appeared to suggest the next pair of pandas are most likely to come to California, probably San Diego.
The bears have long been the symbol of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to other U.S. zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs.
The National Zoo’s three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, eight days ago began their long trip to China. After their departure, only four pandas are left in the United States, in the Atlanta Zoo.
“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. He added that he learned the San Diego Zoo and people in California “very much look forward to welcoming pandas back.”
Xi is in California to attend a summit of Indo-Pacific leaders and for his meeting with Biden. He made no mention of the pandas during his public remarks earlier in the day as he met with Biden.
When bilateral relations began to sour in the past few years, members of the Chinese public started to demand the return of giant pandas. Unproven allegations that U.S. zoos mistreated the pandas, known as China’s “national treasure,” flooded China’s social media.
But relations showed signs of stabilization as Xi traveled to San Francisco to meet with Biden. The two men met for about four hours Wednesday at the picturesque Filoli Historic House & Garden, where they agreed to cooperate on anti-narcotics, resume high-level military communications and expand people-to-people exchanges.
The National Zoo’s exchange agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association had been set to expire in early December and negotiations to renew or extend the deal did not produce results.
The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year.
___
Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil in Washington contributed to this report.
veryGood! (443)
Related
- ParkMobile $32.8 million settlement: How to join class
- Judge cancels court deadlines in Trump’s 2020 election case after his presidential win
- Majority Black Louisiana elementary school to shut down amid lawsuits over toxic air exposure
- DB Wealth Institute Introduce
- Kylie Kelce's podcast 'Not Gonna Lie' tops Apple, Spotify less than a week after release
- Trump victory spurs worry among migrants abroad, but it’s not expected to halt migration
- Parents of 4-year-old who starved to death in NYC apartment charged with murder
- Man is charged in highway shootings around North Carolina’s capital city
- Drew Barrymore has been warned to 'back off' her guests after 'touchy' interviews
- Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of 2 workers at Chicago’s Navy Pier
Ranking
- KISS OF LIFE reflects on sold
- How Harry Hamlin’s Pasta Sauce Transformed Real Housewives Drama into a Holiday Gift That Gives Back
- Full list of 2025 Grammy nominations: Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, more make the cut
- New Hampshire rejects allowing judges to serve until age 75
- Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single
- Dozen Salisbury University students face assault, hate crime charges after alleged beating
- Trump beat Harris in a landslide. Will his shy voters feel emboldened?
- Mexican man gets 39 years in Michigan prison for a killing that became campaign issue
Recommendation
-
Taxpayers could get $500 'inflation refund' checks under New York proposal: What to know
-
Flooding closes interstate as heavy rains soak southeast Georgia
-
These Chunky Chic Jewelry Styles From Frank Darling Are Fall’s Must-Have Fashion Staple to Wear on Repeat
-
New York, several other states won't accept bets on Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight
-
Stock market today: Asian shares advance, tracking rally on Wall Street
-
$70,000 engagement ring must be returned after canceled wedding, Massachusetts high court rules
-
The story of how Trump went from diminished ex-president to a victor once again
-
Alabama prison sergeant charged with sexual misconduct