San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is set to go to China and South Korea later this month.

His first international trip since taking office, Lurie says the trip is meant to promote tourism and expand ties with San Francisco's sister cities.

"We are leaning into our arts and culture. We have said it's driving our economic recovery. We want to go tell our great sister cities of Shanghai and Seoul all about San Francisco," Lurie said.

But there's also another item that could be discussed when the mayor is in China: will pandas return to the San Francisco Zoo?

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Former Mayor London Breed first made an agreement to bring the pandas here to San Francisco back in 2024.

Now, with Lurie's trip to Asia in just a few weeks' time, ABC7 Eyewitness News wanted to know if the pandas are still going to be coming.

We caught up with the mayor outside the Asian Art Museum on Thursday.

"We are in dialogue about it. We are making sure our zoo is ready to host those pandas. So we'll have more conversations about that," Lurie said.

The mayor will travel with several other prominent business and cultural leaders from the city.

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That includes Soyoung Lee, the director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum.

During our visit to the museum, Lee showed us the museum's latest special exhibition by a renowned Japanese artist, Chiharu Shiota.

Officially opening on Friday, Lee says the exhibition is an example of the type of cultural exchange that's uniquely San Francisco, one that she hopes the Lurie's upcoming trip will inspire more of.

"The whole mayor's team and all of us in the arts and culture in the city are deeply committed to continuing our roles in that cultural and economic exchange," Lee said.

Lurie is set to leave for China on April 17.

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