China says farewell to two giant pandas traveling to San Diego zoo

The giant panda Yun Chuan in Yanan, in south-west China's Sichuan province, on 18 April 2024. Photograph: Xue Chen/AP

Two giant pandas are on their way to the US, where they will end up at the San Diego zoo – the first such import of the huge bears from China in more than two decades.

The loan was finalized in February after the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, suggested sending pandas to the San Diego zoo as “envoys of friendship” between China and the US.