Japan-born pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrive in China as bilateral ties freeze

January 29, 2026 – 9:07 AM

Four-year-old female giant panda Lei Lei eats bamboo at Ueno Zoo during the last viewing day before the planned return of twin giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei to China, in Tokyo, Japan, January 25, 2026. (Reuters/Issei Kato)

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iant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei

arrived in Sichuan province on

Wednesday, China’s panda research base said in a social media post, l

eaving Japan without pandas for the first time since 1972 at a moment of tense relations between the two nations.

Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrived at Chengdu’s Tianfu International Airport on 1 a.m. on Wednesday, a WeChat post by the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda showed. They reached the centre in Ya’an, Sichuan, at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, where they will quarantine.

The twin pandas were born in Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in 2021

emotional goodbye

from fans in Tokyo where the pair were born and raised.

hey have been a top draw at the zoo since their

parents, Shin Shin and Ri Ri,

went to

China in 2024.

Since its founding in 1949, China has used panda diplomacy to cement ties with other countries –

or express its displeasure

. The pandas ar

e usually lent out and

ends.

Pandas

ypically

go to a Chinese breeding program between the age of two and four.

Pictures on the WeChat post showed the pandas’ crates being unloaded from a Sichuan Airlines plane and then transported to a truck while workers in white protective suits looke

Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei have “made a positive contribution to promoting friendship between the peoples of the two countries”, the research centre said.

Japan has hosted Chinese pandas since the two countries normalised relations in 1972. Their departure, though long planned, comes at a low point in Sino-Japanese relations.

In November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would respond militarily in the event of a Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan.

advised citizens against travelling to Japan

, views Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objections of the government in Taipei.

A future offer of pandas could indicate Beijing wants to improve the relationship.

Ya Ya, on loan to the U.S. for 20 years, was

returned

to China in April 2023 after a suspected Chinese

spy balloon

floated over the U.S.

Similarly, China’s Premier Li Qiang offered pandas to Australia as a

goodwill gesture

South Korea could be the next test ground for China’s panda diplomacy.

full restoration

of South Korea-China relations in his first visit to Beijing as president.

South Koreans in April 2024 bid a tearful farewell to

Fu Bao

—Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Christopher Cushing