NEW YORK, February 22. /TASS/. China intends to send a new pair of large pandas to California’s San Diego Zoo this summer, representatives of the zoo told the Associated Press.

According to their information, the female and male pandas will arrive in San Diego by the end of the summer with the approval of all necessary requirements. The zoo had previously been home to several other specimens, but about five years ago they were sent back to China.

White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said on November 16 that the United States would be happy if China decided to return pandas to American zoos. According to him, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his readiness to consider returning some of the animals to the United States.

The big panda is considered an unofficial symbol of China and is under state protection. Sending these animals to various countries has already become a tradition, which is often called "panda diplomacy." About 1,800 bamboo bears now live in natural conditions, mainly in the mountainous area of China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, where bamboo forests have been preserved. There are approximately 180 specimens in various nurseries and zoos. The Chinese authorities have set a goal of bringing the total population of pandas living in the wild to 2,000 or more by 2025.