SAN DIEGO (AP) China plans to send a new pair of giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo, renewing its longstanding gesture of friendship toward the United States after nearly all the iconic bears on loan to U.S. zoos were sent back as relations soured between the two nations.

San Diego Zoo officials told The Associated Press that if all permits and other requirements are approved, two bears, a male and a female, are expected to arrive by the end of summer, about five years after the zoo sent its last pandas back to China.

Were very excited and hopeful, said Megan Owen of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and vice president of Wildlife Conservation Science. Theyve expressed a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to re-initiate panda cooperation starting with the San Diego Zoo.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association said Thursday it also signed cooperation agreements with the zoo in the Spanish capital of Madrid, and is in talks with zoos in Washington, D.C., and Vienna.