It was just over a week ago that D.C. bade a teary farewell to three of the most beloved animals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, giant pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and Xiao Qi Ji, amidst a low-point in U.S. – China relations. Now, following a high-profile meeting between the two nations’ leaders, it looks like pandas may be returning to D.C. and other zoo in the United States.

“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas and went to the zoo to see them off,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking through an interpreter Wednesday evening.

“Pandas have long been envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples. We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation,” Xi said, during a dinner hosted by the US-China Business Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. The dinner came after President Joe Biden met with Xi for more than four hours on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference in San Francisco.

While pandas were not at the top of the agenda for the meeting, and were likely not discussed at all, China may be preparing to send more pandas to the U.S. as a sign the two countries’ relationship is on the mend. Doing so, Xi said, would “deepen friendly ties between our peoples.”

Pandas first came to the U.S. in 1972, two months after Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China. The initial pandas were a gift, a symbol of a thaw between the two Cold War enemies, and were housed at the National Zoo. Since then, China has gifted or loaned pandas to zoos around the world, often coinciding with trade deals or other diplomatic events — a practice that’s come to be known as panda diplomacy.

Recently, U.S.-China relations have hit their rockiest point in decades, following the COVID-19 pandemic, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year, and the incident earlier this year when the U.S. shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon. In past years, China agreed to extend panda leases, but recently, as leases have lapsed, they have not been renewed. Zoos in San Diego, Memphis, and D.C. said goodbye to their pandas recently, and the pandas at Zoo Atlanta — the last in the U.S. — have a one-way ticket to China next year.

Some China-watchers said China appeared to be withholding pandas in response to these events, and suggested things could change following the meeting between Xi and Biden.

“It could well be that this logjam with the National Zoo might break loose after that, as another signal from the Chinese side that things have improved,” Dennis Wilder told DCist, before the pandas’ departure. Wilder, a professor at Georgetown University’s Asian studies program and a former White House China official, said both the U.S. and China were hoping to stabilize the relationship at the meeting.

Speaking in California, Xi singled out the San Diego zoo in his comments:

“The San Diego Zoo and the Californians very much look forward to welcoming pandas back,” Xi said, adding that China would “do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians.”

A spokesperson for the National Zoo said she could not comment on Xi’s remarks. But in interviews before the pandas left, zoo officials said they were optimistic pandas would be returning to D.C. soon — in fact, the zoo is spending $2.5 million to revamp the panda enclosures while they are empty.