WASHINGTON – Chinese President Xi Jinping said China is sending two giant pandas to the zoo in Atlanta, calling the pandas an "envoy of friendship" between China and the United States as he spoke alongside President Donald Trump.
Xi announced the gesture on Sept. 24 as he delivered remarks in the White House's grand foyer shortlyafter arriving for the state visit hosted by Trump.
"Here, I have a piece of good news," Xi said through a translator. "In a few days, two pandas ‒ Ping Ping and Fuhuan ‒ will come to their new home in Zoo Atlanta and meet with the American people."
Two other U.S. zoos ‒the National Zoo in Washington and the San Diego Zoo ‒ also currently have pandas
from China. Pandas have been at zoos in the United States since 1972 after former President Richard Nixon normalized relations with China. The tradition has garnered the name "panda diplomacy."
Despite the U.S.-China rivalry between the world's two biggest superpowers, Xi said he accepted Trump's White House invitation to "carry on our friendship, expand cooperation and promote the well-being of both our peoples."
"We should cooperate with sincerity. The interests of the United States are deeply intertwined, and there is plenty of room for us to work together," Xi said.
Although Trump engaged in a trade war with China earlier in his second term, Trump said the two leaders have made "tremendous strides" on important issues facing both countries, including trade policy. He pointed to the creation of a "board of trade" that he said has worked to balance U.S.-China trade.
Among the areas Trump said he plans to discuss with Xi on Thursday is artificial intelligence, or AI, an industry Trump has argued the United States must advance aggressively to compete with China. Trump, who has started to call AI "superintelligence," has strongly dismissed concerns raised by AI executives about the harm the rapidly growing technology could pose to humanity.
"The decisions we make in these areas today can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come," Trump said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China gifts Atlanta zoo two giant pandas as Xi meets with Trump
