邻国

• Pinyin: lín guó
• Hanzi breakdown: 邻 = 阝 + 粦 (neighbour — people living alongside, marked by proximity); 国 = 囗 + 玉 (country — a bounded territory with its precious core)

Meaning

Neighbouring country; adjacent nation. A country that shares a border with another.

Used in diplomatic, geopolitical, and historical contexts to refer to nations that share physical borders. Relationships between 邻国 are particularly significant in Chinese foreign policy discourse — the concept of 睦邻友好 (good-neighbourliness) is a central diplomatic principle. The term appears frequently in international relations analysis, news reporting, and historical writing.

Examples

1. 中国与多个邻国签署了边境贸易协定，旨在促进区域经济的共同繁荣。 China has signed border trade agreements with multiple neighboring countries to promote shared regional prosperity.
2. 两国作为邻国，在历史上既有深厚的文化交流，也经历过复杂的领土争端。 As neighboring countries, the two nations have had deep cultural exchanges throughout history, and they have also experienced complex territorial disputes.
3. 这场突发的自然灾害迅速引起邻国政府的高度关注，纷纷表示愿意提供人道主义援助。 This sudden natural disaster quickly drew close attention from neighboring governments, many of which expressed willingness to provide humanitarian aid.

Usage Guide

Context: diplomacy, international relations, geopolitics, news

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 在推进'一带一路'倡议的过程中，与邻国建立互信互利的合作关系至关重要。(In advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, establishing mutually trusting and beneficial cooperative relations with neighbouring countries is of vital importance.)
• 两国邻国关系因领土主权争端而持续紧张，外交渠道的疏通工作面临重重阻碍。(Relations between the two neighbouring countries remain persistently tense due to territorial sovereignty disputes, with diplomatic channel restoration facing numerous obstacles.)

Don't Say

• 将'邻国'用于非国家层面的相邻关系 — 该词专指国家之间的毗邻关系，相邻的省份或城市应用'相邻省份'或'毗邻城市'

Origin & History

邻 (neighbour/adjacent — living side by side) + 国 (country/nation — the state as a bounded territory)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal