STORY: Chinese Premier Li Qiang offered to send over some pandas during a visit to Australia this week.
It comes as ties between Australia and China improve after a diplomatic dispute that lead to China imposing restrictions on Australian agricultural and mineral exports in 2020.
Native to China, pandas have through the years become "envoys of friendship."
They have also been used to show Chinese anger.
So what is panda diplomacy and how does it work?
:: When did panda diplomacy start?
China has been gifting or lending pandas to boost its international image since its founding in 1949.
::1964
To cement ties with socialist allies, China gifted two of the creatures to the Soviet Union in the 1950s and five more to North Korea between 1965 and 1980.
In 1972, during former U.S. President Richard Nixon's historic visit, Beijing gifted two pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing to the United States.
It was a sign of normalized China- U.S. relations and marked a pivotal moment for China's foreign policy.
Pat Nixon was the former first lady.
"And best of all, for the gift of the pandas, which all children, whatever age will enjoy. And I include myself in that category."
Since then, other countries, including Japan, France, Britain and Spain have also been given pandas.
::What's the panda diplomacy policy?
China stopped gifting pandas from 1984 due to their dwindling numbers.
It began loaning them to overseas zoos instead...
...often in pairs for 10 years, with an annual fee up to about $1 million.
Keeping pandas can be costly for zoos.
But they are seen as drawcards for visitors and help generate income.
"They're majestic animals."
"It was very adorable."
"They would be cute."
The pandas typically return home to southwest China after the loan agreement ends.
::Wildlife Reserves Singapore
Panda cubs born overseas are no exception. They would be sent home to join a Chinese breeding program.
:: How does it work?
China has a history of using pandas to reward their trading partners.
:: ZooParc de Beauval
A 2013 Oxford University study said the timing of China's lease of pandas to Canada, France and Australia "coincided with" uranium deals and contracts with these countries.
The panda agreements with other countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, also coincided with the signing of free-trade agreements.
Sometimes, pandas are also used to express China's displeasure with a nation.
In 2010, China recalled two U.S.-born pandas after Beijing warned Washington against a scheduled meeting between then-President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama.
Beijing views the Tibetan spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist.
In a recent downturn in bilateral ties, Ya Ya, on loan to the U.S. for 20 years, was returned in April 2023.
Concerns over her health had also fanned nationalist sentiment on China's social media. Animal advocates accused the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee of providing inadequate care to the animal.
In November last year, three other pandas left, leaving only four giant pandas on U.S. soil.
That month, Chinese President Xi Jinping then hinted that he was open to sending more pandas to the U.S. after meeting with President Joe Biden in California, a gesture seen as Chinese willingness to improve ties.
China's domestic conservation programs have seen the status of pandas improve from endangered to vulnerable.
There are currently 728 pandas in zoos and breeding centers around the world.
