China has agreed to lease two giant pandas to San Francisco following a hard-fought, year-long campaign by Mayor London Breed. The bears will arrive in 2025.

San Francisco is going to be the next U.S. city to receive a pair of pandas from China as part of the “panda diplomacy” program between Washington and Beijing. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Friday that the San Francisco Zoo has been selected to house the giant pandas.

For decades, the People's Republic of China gifted pandas to countries in its good graces. Two were famously sent to former U.S. President Richard Nixon by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1972 following Nixon's ice-breaking visit to the communist country that laid the groundwork for normalized ties seven years later.

China will send giant pandas to live at San Francisco’s zoo for the first time, Mayor London Breed has announced.

For the first time in decades, San Francisco will receive giant pandas from China as part of China's Panda Diplomacy program. Mayor Breed shared the news on X Thursday night.

A new animal is coming to the San Francisco Zoo. Mayor London Breed announced Thursday that giant pandas will be added to the zoo as part of China’s Panda Diplomacy program. Breed is currently overseas in Beijing,

Jian Zhang, an immigrant from China with a doctorate in nursing, leads the 88-bed Chinese Hospital in San Francisco. The facility faces financial constraints like other independent hospitals, but its strong community support and partnerships have helped it weather tough times.

San Francisco is the latest U_S_ city preparing to receive a pair of pandas from China, in a continuation of Beijing’s famed “panda diplomacy.”