Merkel and Xi engage in 'panda diplomacy' at Berlin zoo

Two days before the start of the G20 summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel indulged in "panda diplomacy", opening a $10 million Chinese compound in Berlin Zoo for Meng Meng and Jiao Qing -- two giant pandas that China is lending to Germany as a token of friendship.

President Xi said during an hour-long ceremony that Germany had expressed a wish for the pandas, to which he responded "positively."

Xi's visit, a month after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang travelled to Berlin to meet Merkel, comes at an extremely sensitive time for big-power relations ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg.