Panda diplomacy: a boost for China-Japan ties amid US tariff anxiety?

Name: How do China’s panda loans work and how has panda diplomacy evolved?
Uploaded: 2025-07-08T00:00:10.000Z
Duration: 9 min 52 s
Description: How do China’s panda loans work and how has panda diplomacy evolved?

Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say

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How do China’s panda loans work and how has panda diplomacy evolved?

Julian Ryall

Published: 8:00am, 8 Jul 2025Updated: 9:26am, 11 Jul 2025

Panda diplomacy is back in play as Japan seeks to charm visiting Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng with hopes of securing one or two of the endangered bears on loan.

The gesture could help soothe bilateral ties and signal regional unity amid growing unease over US trade policy under President Donald Trump, analysts have said.

He, a close adviser to President Xi Jinping, is scheduled to attend the World Expo in Osaka for “national pavilion day” at the Chinese pavilion on Friday.

The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday that Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and chairman of the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship League, would meet He in Osaka and request the loan of at least one panda for a Japanese zoo.

There was an outpouring of sorrow when four pandas kept at a wildlife park in Wakayama prefecture, central Japan, were returned to their homeland in June. At present, there are only two pandas in the country, at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, and those are due to return to China in February.

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng is scheduled to attend the World Expo in Osaka on Friday. Photo: Reuters

“Japanese people love to see pandas and they are deeply symbolic, but it goes beyond that at a time like this,” said Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.

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Panda diplomacy: a boost for China-Japan ties amid US tariff anxiety?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say

Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say