South Australia's newest furry arrivals pandas Yi Lan and Xing Qiu have touched down in Adelaide. On loan from China at the cost of about one and a half million dollars a year. They replace Wang Wang and Fu Ni who spent the last 15 years at the city's zoo. They're a major drawcard for visitors and experts say they're also part of China's soft power or what's been labelled panda diplomacy.
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00:00The promise of a new panda pair.
00:05We will provide a new pair of equally beautiful, lovely and adorable pandas to the Adelaide.
00:10Excellent.
00:11As soon as possible.
00:12Yilun and Jingqiu touch down in Adelaide tomorrow, travelling from Dujiangyan in China.
00:18Wong Wong and Funi had been at Adelaide Zoo since 2009, returning home to China last month.
00:25From their first debut, the pair captivated fans.
00:28Then came the annual wait to see if the finicky breeders would have a baby.
00:33A range of steps were taken to help them, including artificial insemination and even panda pornography,
00:39but it was ultimately unsuccessful.
00:42They did get very close, they were really working out the positioning.
00:46But there's more to the pair than the public's longing for a cub.
00:49China has a long history in using the fluffy creatures as a political tool, known as panda diplomacy.
00:56Premier Li Qiang's recent trip made him the most senior Chinese official to visit the country in seven years.
01:03That was part of the campaign to improve relations with Australia
01:07after horrifying economic sanctions launched against Australia.
01:12China's trade war on Australia began in 2020,
01:15after then Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
01:22But after four tough years, China's now lifted all of the tariffs on the major industries that were largely shut out of the country's market.
01:29Wine, barley and rock lobster are all now back on the table.
01:33Professor Michael Sullivan says the pandas are about culture and science, as well as politics.
01:39But I think it's a sign that despite things going wrong,
01:42the cultural diplomacy side of this can still function very, very well.
01:47I guess everybody's keeping their fingers crossed about improving relations and having panda babies.
01:53Big pressure on the new panda pair.