Two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday as part of a 10-year loan agreement between the United States and China. The animals, born in 2020, departed from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwestern China aboard a dedicated Boeing 777 aircraft operated by FedEx, according to Chinese state media. The transfer was confirmed by Zoo Atlanta, which stated that the bears would be quarantined for about a month before their public debut.

The pandas’ arrival followed a three-day summit in Washington, where US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held closed-door talks on issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan and the war with Iran. Despite the high-level meeting, no major policy breakthroughs were announced, though the panda loan was cited as a tangible outcome. Xi Jinping announced the arrival timeline at the White House on Thursday, noting that the bears could reach Zoo Atlanta from the Chengdu Research Base, China’s premier hub for giant panda conservation, within the next few days.

Zoo Atlanta had upgraded its panda habitats and secured a stable supply of locally grown Atlanta bamboo, which shares a near-identical climate with Chengdu. The bears completed a 16-hour charter flight across the International Date Line, landing in Atlanta shortly before 7:00am (11:00am GMT). Midway through its journey through Alaska, the FedEx Boeing 777 had spiked to the top of Flightradar24’s global tracking charts. Steamed corn buns, bamboo shoots and carrots were prepared to keep the pandas nourished during their flight, Chinese state-run media reported. The US also mobilised a specialised care team to accompany the duo on their flight.

A spokesperson for the zoo told Al Jazeera that their team had “done everything possible to accommodate them”, but a definitive timeline for their arrival – much less their public debut – remains “unconfirmed”. Zoo Atlanta President and CEO Raymond B. King said in a statement that the arrival was “a thrilling day for Zoo Atlanta and a historic moment for the City of Atlanta, the state of Georgia and beyond”. The zoo last had pandas in 2024.

China has long used the pandas as part of its diplomacy globally, deploying the bears in loan programs as expressions of goodwill and letting loan agreements lapse when tensions arise. Xi Jinping had said the loan program was an example of “friendship between the Chinese and Americans”. What remains unknown is the exact timeline for the pandas’ public debut and the full impact of the loan agreement on US-China relations.