Pandas will soon be making their way back to American zoos, as Chinese President Xi Jinping told US business leaders on Wednesday night that he plans to send more of the bears to the country.
The news comes a week after China refused to extend a loan agreement, reclaiming three pandas from their homes in American zoos.
“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 at a dinner in San Francisco hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations and the US-China Business Council.
Xi continued, saying he 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.”
The United States only has four pandas remaining in the country, all housed at a zoo in Atlanta. On Nov. 8, the pandas Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and cub Xiao Qi Ji made their trip back to China after being reclaimed by the nation.
Earlier this year, zoos in San Diego and Memphis also surrendered their pandas after their loans expired.
The comments came after President Xi and President Joe Biden had a sit-down discussion where they talked about relations between the two superpowers.
The talks took place at a historic mansion just south of San Francisco and lasted nearly four hours.
Biden and Xi’s summit ended with an agreement to resume military-to-military communications to avoid any unintended incidents. Talks had stalled last year after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
Biden shared with reporters that Xi also agreed to restrict the export of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors as the narcotic continues to claim the lives of thousands of Americans.