Giant pandas are coming to the San Francisco Zoo

For the first time in decades, the San Francisco Zoo will welcome giant pandas from China as part of the country's Panda Diplomacy program.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed shared the news on X Thursday night.

"It's happening: the pandas are coming to San Francisco," said Breed, who is in China to bring in new business and tourism to San Francisco.

This is the first official leased agreement for pandas to have residency at the San Francisco Zoo. In the 1980s, the zoo temporarily hosted giant pandas from China as part of a global tour.

In 1984, two pandas named Yun-Yun and Ying-Xin visited the zoo for three months as part of the 1984 Summer Olympics tour, and drew more than 260,000 visitors to the zoo -- roughly four times the average attendance during the time. The pandas visited the zoo again in 1985 for three months.

"It's an honor that our city has been chosen for the first time to be a long-term home for giant pandas," Breed said. "San Francisco is an international destination and the gateway to the Asia Pacific – having pandas here will strengthen our already deep cultural connection and honors our Chinese and API heritage that is core to San Francisco's history."

Breed hopes the pandas can arrive by 2025.

The timeline for the arrival of the pandas will be set by the completion of a panda enclosure at zoo. This week, engineers from the Beijing Zoo traveled to San Francisco to meet with engineers to collaborate on giant panda enclosures as preparation work continues.

In May, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association will send a delegation from Beijing to San Francisco to further engage on timeline, next steps and the buildout for the enclosures to accommodate the giant pandas.