'Ping-pong diplomacy' refers to the historic use of table tennis exchanges between China and the United States in the early 1970s to ease political tensions and pave the way for diplomatic normalization. The term combines 乒乓 (pīngpāng), the onomatopoeic name for table tennis, and 外交 (wàijiāo), meaning 'diplomacy' or 'foreign relations'. Though literally 'ping-pong + diplomacy', it functions as a fixed noun describing a specific historical strategy where sports served as a soft-power tool for international engagement.

This term is almost exclusively used in historical, political, or academic contexts to evoke that pivotal moment—especially the 1971 U.S. table tennis team’s visit to China, followed by Kissinger’s secret trip and Nixon’s 1972 visit. It is not used for general sports diplomacy today, nor does it refer to casual or recreational table tennis. The phrase carries strong connotations of breakthrough, symbolism, and non-military bridge-building between nations.