China’s global image has rebounded from its pandemic-era lows, with international views of both the country and President Xi Jinping improving as confidence in the United States has declined, according to a new Pew Research Centre survey.
The survey, released on Wednesday, polled more than 45,000 people across 37 countries spanning every region of the world, including many advanced economies and emerging markets, such as Argentina, Australia, France, Ghana, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and the US.
“Views of China were at or near historic lows in many countries during the Covid-19 pandemic but have since steadily increased,” Jonathan Schulman, a research associate at Pew Research Centre, said in a statement to the South China Morning Post. “Views of the US have declined in many places, and the share of people saying that the US is a reliable partner to their country has similarly fallen sharply.”
The survey was conducted between February and May through telephone, face-to-face and online interviews, during a period when the US was becoming increasingly entangled in the conflict with Iran and other regional crises.
One of the survey’s most notable findings is the shift in relative perceptions of China and the US. Across the 20 countries that Pew has surveyed consistently over time, all of which were included in this year’s 37-country survey, China now enjoys a higher average favourability rating than the US, with 46 per cent of respondents expressing a favourable view of China, compared with 36 per cent for the US.
In 2023, the US enjoyed a much more favourable image, with 54 per cent of respondents viewing it more positively than China, while only 19 per cent favoured China.