Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, will soon be sent to Zoo Atlanta, underscoring China's long-standing "panda diplomacy" as a tool of soft power. The practice, dating to 1957 and strengthened after 1972, involves loans of pandas to other countries and has reflected fluctuations in Sino-foreign relations, including repatriations amid diplomatic tensions.
