On November 6, 2026, Zoo Atlanta held the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony of the Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove, marking the public debut of the giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang. Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng, former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, Atlanta Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks, and Zoo Atlanta President Raymond King attended the ceremony and delivered remarks. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens delivered video remarks. Chinese representatives including Deputy Secretary-General of the China Wildlife Conservation Association Li Linhai and nearly 100 guests from various sectors in the United States attended the event.

Ambassador Xie said that during the state visit to the United States in September, President Xi Jinping announced the great news that Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, a new pair of giant pandas, would soon come to Zoo Atlanta. Three days later, the two envoys flew across the Pacific and arrived at their new home. This has injected fresh momentum into China-U.S. giant panda cooperation, and also opened a new chapter in the friendship between the two peoples. This marks the renewal of a decades-long bond between China and Zoo Atlanta, and is China’s sincere response to the aspirations of the American people. It is also a vivid testament to practical subnational cooperation between China and the United States, and is the latest outcome of the joint efforts of both sides to implement the two Presidents’ consensus on deepening people-to-people exchanges. The two sides need to seize the momentum, continue to act on the two Presidents' important consensus, and expand the list of cooperation while shortening the list of problems, so as to build a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity with concrete action and promote its sustained development.

Ambassador Xie also paid a special visit to Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to learn about their adaptation to the new environment and the feeding and care of them after their arrival in the United States. He also presented them with carefully selected "housewarming gifts". The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. provided various cultural experience programs at the event, such as calligraphy, stone rubbing, and fun quiz, which drew enthusiastic participation from the local public and created a lively atmosphere throughout the event.