Ambassador Chao Xiaoliang Publishes Headline Article "Belt and Road initiative injects New Vitality to China-Samoa Cooperation" on "Samoa Observer"

　  2019年4月30日，驻萨摩亚大使巢小良在萨摩亚最大的英语、萨摩亚语报纸《萨摩亚观察家报》发表题为《“一带一路”为中萨合作注入新动力》，介绍“一带一路”倡议对包括萨摩亚在内的太平洋岛国发展带来的新机遇以及中国与萨摩亚开展“一带一路”合作以来取得的积极成果。全文如下：

On 30 April, 2019, Ambassador Chao Xiaoliang published a headline article titled "Belt and Road initiative injects New Vitality to China-Samoa Cooperation" on "Samoa Observer", a major English-Samoan bilingual newspaper in Samoa. Here is what Ambassador Chao writes:

　　4月1日，2019“中国—太平洋岛国旅游年”在萨摩亚开幕。作为新任中国驻萨摩亚大使，我陪同中国文化和旅游部雒树刚部长以及中国主流媒体记者、知名旅游公司代表一同参观了史蒂文森博物馆、民俗文化村和图苏瓦海洞等著名景点。萨摩亚瑰丽优美的风光、悠久灿烂的文化、热情友好的人民令我们每一个人陶醉其中，流连忘返。

On 1 April, the 2019 China-Pacific Island Countries Tourism Year was launched in Samoa. As the new Chinese Ambassador to Samoa, I accompanied Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism Mr. LUO Shugang on his visits to some of the famous tourist attractions in Samoa such as Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, Samoa Cultural Village and To Sua Trench. Together with us are journalists from major Chinese media agencies and big Chinese travel agents. The picturesque sceneries, splendid culture and friendly people of Samoa have enchanted all of us.

　　很快，在中国新闻、网络以及社交媒体上形成了一股“萨摩亚热”。越来越多的中国民众开始关注萨摩亚，主动了解萨摩亚，对赴萨摩亚旅游产生了浓厚的兴趣。据中国领先的自由行服务平台——马蜂窝旅游网大数据显示，随着旅游年的开启，太平洋岛国在中国游客中的旅游热度迅速上涨。其中，萨摩亚的旅游热度涨幅达到 132%，巴布亚新几内亚、斐济、汤加等目的地涨幅也超过70%。仅4月份，中国旅行社等知名旅游公司已组织了多个旅游体验团到萨摩亚，中国游客对萨摩亚秀美的风景和淳朴的人民印象深刻，普遍对旅游体验感到满意。

Soon afterwards, growing interest in Samoa formed a wave of "Samoan heat" in Chinese media, Internet and social media. More and more Chinese people try to know more about Samoa and search for Samoa's travel information. According to the statistics from the leading Chinese travel service platform--mafengwo.cn, with the launch of the 2019 China-Pacific Island Countries Tourism Year, Chinese tourists' interest in the Pacific has grown rapidly, among which interest in Samoa has grown by 132 percent, and interest in the PNG, Fiji and Tonga has grown by over 70 percent. In April alone, major Chinese travel agencies like China Travel Service has organized several group tours to Samoa. Deeply impressed by the beauty of Samoan landscapes and friendly people, the Chinese tourists have reported a high rate of satisfaction after the tours.

　　这得益于中萨两国领导人的远见卓识和不懈努力。去年9月，图伊拉埃帕总理访问中国，与中国国家主席习近平和国务院总理李克强分别会见。两国签署了“一带一路”合作谅解备忘录，使萨摩亚成为南太地区岛国中最早与中国签署此项合作文件的国家之一。“中国—太平洋岛国旅游年”以及中萨两国旅游产业的交流合作，既是落实去年习近平主席与太平洋岛国领导人在巴布亚新几内亚会晤达成的重要共识，也是中国与萨摩亚开展“一带一路”合作以来最早收获的成果。两国“一带一路”合作开局振奋人心。

All this is attributable to the vision and persistent effort by the leaders of our two countries. Last September, Prime Minister Tuilaepa visited China and had separate meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang. During this visit, China and Samoa signed MOU on jointly building the Belt and Road Cooperation, making Samoa one of the first Pacific countries to sign this important document with China. The launch of the 2019 China-Pacific Island Countries Tourism Year in Samoa and the exchanges and cooperation between the tourism industries of our two countries are not only concrete measures to implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and Pacific Island leaders in their PNG meeting last November, but also the exciting early harvest of the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Samoa.