SF Mayor London Breed heading to China in April to promote tourism

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed is headed back to China.

Mayor Breed will travel to the country on April 13 to promote tourism.

MORE: 2 giant pandas are moving to San Diego Zoo in a rare loan from China

China is sending two giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo - the first time it has granted new panda loans to the United States in two decades.

According to ABC7 News media partner The SF Standard, Breed wants to strengthen relations with Shanghai and hopes to return with good news about pandas potentially coming to the San Francisco Zoo.

In 2023, the San Francisco Zoo was among the candidates to receive two giant pandas from China but lost out to San Diego.

RELATED: Chinese tourists noticeably absent from San Francisco, numbers show

Chinese tourists have still not come back to the numbers SF saw prior to the pandemic. China was once San Francisco's top international market.

Chinese tourists spent more than $1 billion a year in San Francisco, pre-pandemic.

This will be Mayor Breed's second trip to China.

RELATED: SF Zoo possibly one step closer to receiving Giant Pandas from China

Here's an inside look at what it would take for Giant Pandas from China to return to San Francisco.

If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live