Fresh chapter in panda diplomacy as new bears from China arrive in Washington

Giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao land at Dulles International Airport after a 19-hour flight from China’s Sichuan province.

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Male panda Bao Li prepares to make the journey from China’s Sichuan province to his new home in Washington’s National Zoo on Monday. Photo: China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration via AP

Xinlu Liangin BeijingandKhushboo Razdanin Washington

Published: 4:15pm, 15 Oct 2024Updated: 5:43am, 16 Oct 2024

Two giant pandas arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington after a 19-hour special FedEx flight from China on Tuesday, marking a new chapter in panda diplomacy and potentially strengthening bilateral relations.

The three-year-old pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao are the first to arrive in the US capital in 24 years. The pair, which departed from the China Giant Panda Research Centre in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Monday, are to reside in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo for 10 years.

The zoo said it would remain closed to the public on Tuesday for “the safety of the pandas and staff”.

The new arrivals will make their much-awaited public debut next year on January 24 after undergoing a 30-day quarantine to avoid spreading any possible infections to other animals, and then another couple of weeks to help the animals acclimatise to their new environment.

“We hope the arrival of the pandas will inject fresh impetus into exchanges between China and the US, and help to stabilise the broader bilateral relationship as well,” Liu Pengyu, the spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said on Tuesday.