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The bears’ transfer had already been agreed but the departure was announced Thursday during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington. The black-and-white mammals are immensely popular around the world, and China loans them out as part of a “panda diplomacy” program to foster foreign ties. A male named Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang departed from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on a chartered flight at around 3:00 am , Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. After a 16-hour flight that crossed the international date line, the bears touched down in the southern US city of Atlanta, Georgia shortly before…
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