— Giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrived in Sichuan province on Wednesday, China’s panda research base said in a social media post, leaving Japan without pandas for the first time since 1972 at a moment of tense relations between the two nations. Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrived at Chengdu’s Tianfu International Airport on 1 a.m. on Wednesday, a WeChat post by the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda showed. Pandas born overseas like Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei typically go to a Chinese breeding program between the age of two and four. Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei have “made a positive contribution to promoting friendship between the peoples of the two countries”, the research centre said. South Koreans in April 2024 bid a tearful farewell to Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in the country, although it remains home to four other Chinese pandas.