Posters of twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei among other souvenirs at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan Photo: CCTV News

The twin giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei currently living at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo will leave the zoo on January 27 and be flown back to China, according to CCTV News on Tuesday. Their final public viewing day will be January 25.

Born at Ueno Zoo in 2021, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei are the offspring of giant pandas Bi Li and Xian Nü, who returned to China in September 2024. Their older sister, Xiang Xiang, was sent back to China in February 2023, per report.

Under a prior agreement between China and Japan, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were scheduled to be returned by February 2026. According to the Japanese side, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government held consultations with China on the specific date and decided to move the return forward by about one month.

Japan media the Asahi Shimbun reported on Monday that the twin pandas are currently the only captive giant pandas in Japan. After their return, Japan will for the first time have no pandas since giant pandas arrived in the country following the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government had requested China to loan new pandas, but the request is unlikely to succeed, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

Takako Akikawa, chief of the education and outreach section of Ueno Zoo, earlier responded to an inquiry from the Global Times on the issue via email that the cooperation agreement between the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the Tokyo metropolitan authority for the implementation of giant panda conservation research, was originally a 10-year agreement effective from 2011. In 2021, the agreement was extended for another five years, with a validity period until February 20, 2026.

According to Jiji Press, after Ueno Zoo announced on December 16, 2025, that the twin pandas would be returning to China, large crowds flocked to the zoo at the first day of reopening, with more than 1,600 people gathering near the entrance to the panda enclosure before opening hours. After the gates opened, visitors continued to line up in an orderly and friendly atmosphere, many holding panda-themed merchandise and cameras, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pair.

In an earlier response to whether China has plans to carry out international cooperation with Japan on giant panda conservation since the twin pandas at the zoo are scheduled to return to China in late January, and Japan will be left without any giant pandas; Japanese people love giant pandas very much and hope to continue renting them from China in the future, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated on December 15, 2025 at a regular press conference that "Regarding the specific question you raised, it is recommended that you refer the matter to the competent Chinese authorities for inquiry."

Global Times