There's no doubt that giant pandas are among China's best-known "ambassadors" to the US, which means the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington has witnessed many high points in China-US relations. As Chinese President Xi Jinping gears up for his state visit to the US, the zoo's panda lovers are expressing their wishes for good relations between the two countries.

Nicole Maccorkle has been a giant panda keeper in the zoo since 2001, and has been to China three times to work with her Chinese colleagues and the China-US Joint Panda Research Program. She said she looks forward to the upcoming summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump and hopes a long-standing friendship grows with the new administration as well.

“[I hope] we can continue to collaborate and have visits [which] have us visit China and have the Chinese experts visit us here, and just to pool our knowledge and to learn more, so we can keep preserving the giant pandas for future generations,” said Maccorkle.

Frances Kuo reports that many US visitors to the zoo also say they hope China and the US will maintain good ties. They say finding common grounds is essential to keep happy connections of the unity of both countries, but things like trade war are not wanted.

Panda diplomacy has been a model of scientific cooperation between the two countries. The question is whether it will come to symbolize all of China-US relations.