Giant pandas ignite buzz during debut at San Diego Zoo

A pair of giant pandas from China made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo, United States, on Thursday, meeting with an outpouring love and admiration from eager American visitors.

Giant pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao landed in California on June 27 for a 10-year international giant panda protection cooperation with the San Diego Zoo, marking a new round of U.S.-China panda exchanges. The two are the first pandas to enter the United States in 21 years.

At a welcome ceremony of the two pandas and the opening of the renovated Panda Ridge, California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed August 8 as California Panda Day.

"This is about something much deeper, much richer than just the two beautiful pandas we celebrate. It's about celebrating our common humanity," Newsom said in his speech.

"A panda a day keeps the sorrow away," said Xie Feng, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., in his speech.

Xie said that over the past three decades, cooperation between China and the San Diego Zoo has helped increase survival rates for panda cubs from around 10 percent to more than 90 percent.

"China-U.S. cooperation on panda conservation will not cease. Our people-to-people exchanges and subnational cooperation will not stop, and once opened, the door of China-U.S. friendship will not be shut again," he said.

The zoo has gone to great lengths to create an environment that replicates the giant panda's natural environment in China. The new Panda Ridge is four times the size of the previous space in 2019.

Visitors were thrilled of the pandas' return, with some arriving early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the beloved bears.

"We woke up at 5:00 in the morning, 5:00, drove about an hour and a half. And we are in line, hopefully to be one of the first ones," said a visitor.

"I realize they're shy creatures. I know there's a lot of people here, but I just love to see them in their exhibit as well. And to help, you know, spread the message that we want to save them as best as we can," said another visitor.

Ambassador Xie handed out stuffed animals to young panda enthusiasts. Paola Barajas, a panda fan, plans to come every week and hopes to spread the word about the importance of pandas.

"I studied political science back then, and panda diplomacy has been such an important part of the relationship of the United States and China. So, I'm really hoping that now that we have another opportunity to take care of new cubs. I know they are going to flourish here. We're hoping for future generations of pandas," she said.

Giant pandas ignite buzz during debut at San Diego Zoo

China has achieved the impossible in its ambitious efforts to eliminate poverty, serving as an inspiration and key partner in world development, said the Bangladeshi interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus while in Beijing.

From March 26 to 29, Yunus participated in the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025 in Hainan, an island province in southern China, and subsequently visited Beijing. This marked his first trip to the city since taking his role as chief adviser last August.

During his stay in Beijing, Yunus gave an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) where he discussed the importance of China's rise for developing countries.

"Amazing thing. The first thing that I mentioned when I talk about China, what an inspiration it was for the whole world, not for Bangladesh or a particular country. It's an inspiration for the whole world. What we thought is impossible -- like impossible is how to get the poverty out from a nation. China, with a large population, a large poor population, dared to say no poverty. People said that's crazy, they won't be able to do that. They will not make it. China made it happen. In the entire history of mankind, it never happened before," said Yunus.

In his words, China's accomplishments in this regard are not mere theory but demonstrated reality.

"Impossible things have become easy for China. China was a poor country, didn't have an industry. Now it's a leader of industry. Every country, every nation has to come to China to buy something they cannot produce or produce more expensively. They produce much cheaper, better service. So everything that you see, how you mobilize the strength of the population. It's the power of the young people in the nation and make them to work in a way which benefits the entire world, not just one nation. And people are very grateful to China for that," the chief advisor said.

China's unprecedented poverty elimination inspires global nations: Bangladeshi official