Panda loan talks go silent as Japan-China ties sour

In August 2024, a former secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Toshihiro Nikai, visited China as the chair of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians Union. This was their first visit in over five years. During their discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the topic of a new loan of giant pandas came up. Wang Yi expressed confidence, stating, "It will be fine. Leave it to me."

The plan was to send the pandas to Wakayama Prefecture, a political base for Nikai. According to Japanese government sources, the announcement was set to be made at a Japan-China-South Korea summit. However, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his declaration of martial law in December 2024, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation in September 2025. The summit was originally scheduled to be held in Japan in 2025, but it was postponed.

Despite ongoing arrangements for the summit to be staged in January 2026, Japan-China relations worsened rapidly after this. China announced it would not agree to the three-way summit, and the planned panda loan never materialized. The last two pandas remaining in Japan were returned to China in January 2026. A Japanese official involved in the issue commented, "Now, not even the first syllable of 'panda' comes up in talks with China."