The China-Cambodia Tourism Year was launched at a special event in Phnom Penh on Friday, with Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin and Cambodia's Tourism Minister Huot Hak among the high-profile guests in attendance.
The leaders of China and Cambodia agreed in April to work together on building a community with a shared future, and declared 2025 as the China-Cambodia Tourism Year.
In a speech at the ceremony, Wang said the tourism year will make travel to Cambodia more convenient for Chinese tourists. He said the Chinese embassy would work with Cambodian authorities to strengthen tourism cooperation.
"Cambodia has unique and rich tourist resources, such as Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, the beach and islands of Sihanoukville, and the jungle and waterfalls of Mondulkiri, which all form a colorful calling card for Cambodian tourism," Wang said.
Huot Hat highlighted the importance of tourism cooperation, saying more direct flights between the two countries would help promote bilateral communication and friendship.
"Chinese tourists have been improving Cambodia's economic development, through the creation of job opportunities, tourism spending and in many other ways," he said.
The start of the China-Cambodia Tourism Year coincided with the arrival of a group tour from China, the first ever group with 1,000 visitors, in a promising sign for the year ahead.
China, Cambodia launch tourism year with ceremony held in Phnom Penh
Protests against federal immigration enforcement are spreading across the United States, with the latest demonstration unfolding directly in front of the White House.
Early Saturday, more than a hundred demonstrators gathered there, demanding changes to the Trump administration's immigration policies and accountability for recent shootings involving federal agents.
Immigrant rights and civil rights groups said this weekend's rallies mark a coordinated national response. Demonstrations are planned or already underway in major cities including Philadelphia, as well as across states such as North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Washington, D.C., where organizers are calling for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be removed from local communities.
The nationwide protests follow a deadly week in which three people were shot by federal agents in two days.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, was killed during an enforcement operation by the ICE. A day later in Portland, Oregon, a man and a woman were wounded during a separate federal operation.
In the aftermath, Minnesota state officials accused the Trump administration of blocking their investigation by denying access to key evidence and prematurely drawing conclusions before a full review could be completed.
On Friday, Donald Trump defended the Department of Homeland Security's actions, sharply criticizing Minnesota leaders and calling them corrupt.
Local leaders have pushed back. During a Saturday news conference, the mayor of Minneapolis described ICE agents' actions as reckless.
Officials in both Minneapolis and Portland continue urging demonstrators to remain peaceful as protests intensify nationwide.
According to a 50501 Movement statement issued Friday, at least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025.
Nationwide protests erupt in US after ICE shootings
