息息相关

Pronunciation: xī xī xiāng guān Literal meaning: Breath to breath mutually connected

Origin & Usage

Breath (息) by breath (息), mutually (相) bound (关). 息 is one respiration, the smallest unit of being alive, so the phrase claims connection at that granularity — not that two things affect each other but that they do so continuously and at every moment. It is much stronger than 'related', which is where learners tend to under-translate it. A person and their surroundings, an industry and a policy — and it is a fixture of official language about anything said to touch ordinary people's lives.

Examples

English: "Environmental protection is closely linked to public health."

Chinese: 环境保护与公众健康息息相关。