China is now viewed more favourably than the United States in most countries covered by a new Pew Research Center survey, marking the first time in roughly two decades of the organisation’s global tracking that Beijing has overtaken Washington in international public opinion.

The survey, released on Wednesday, found that respondents in 25 of the 36 countries and territories surveyed held a more favourable view of China than of the United States. The polling was conducted between February and May, during a period that included the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

China Rated More Positively In Most Countries

According to the survey, China received more favourable ratings than the United States in countries including Canada and Mexico, while only six countries viewed the US more positively than China.

The survey also found that respondents in 22 of the 36 countries and territories expressed greater confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping than in US President Donald Trump.

Those countries included Canada, Mexico and several major European nations such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom. However, Pew noted that confidence in both leaders remained relatively low across many of the countries surveyed.

Laura Silver, Associate Director of Pew’s Global Attitudes Research and one of the study’s researchers, said this was the first time China had moved clearly ahead of the United States in the survey’s history.

She said views of the two countries had been closely matched at different points in the past, but China had never previously been rated significantly more favourably than the US.

Researchers Cite Declining Views Of US

Silver said the shift reflected both the fading impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on perceptions of China and a deterioration in international views of the United States.

“There was just an actual relationship between the outbreak of the war and the sense that the US is just not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less confidence in Donald Trump,” she said.

She also cited President Trump’s remarks about Greenland, the US military raid that captured Venezuela’s then leader Nicolas Maduro, and Washington’s approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza as factors that may have contributed to lower approval ratings.

“The US has done a lot in terms of global engagement in recent months to years that is not being perceived positively internationally,” Silver said.

She added that China had also benefited from comparisons with the United States.

“By comparison, we know that China is seen to be a more reliable partner in many places. It’s more likely to be seen to contribute to global peace and stability,” she said.

Sharp Shift Seen In Canada And Europe

One of the largest changes was recorded in Canada, where favourable views of the United States fell from 57 per cent in 2023 to 33 per cent in the latest survey.

During the same period, favourable opinions of China among Canadians increased from 14 per cent to 44 per cent.

The report noted that the shift followed US tariffs on Canadian goods and President Trump’s suggestion that Canada could become “the 51st state”.

Major European countries, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands, also recorded a shift towards more favourable views of China.

In the United Kingdom, where about six in 10 respondents viewed the US positively in 2023, public opinion now places China and the United States on similar footing. Three years earlier, the United States had enjoyed a 32-percentage-point advantage.

US Retains Lead In Few Countries

Among the six countries where the United States continued to enjoy a more favourable image than China, Israel recorded the strongest support for Washington.

Around eight in 10 Israelis viewed the United States positively, compared with 19 per cent who held favourable views of China.

The other countries where the US remained ahead were Japan, India, South Korea, the Philippines and Poland, although Pew said perceptions of the United States had weakened in these countries as well.

The report found that the United States continued to outperform China on perceptions of respect for personal freedoms. However, Pew said that advantage had narrowed because respondents in nearly every country surveyed were less likely than in 2021 to believe that the US government respected the personal freedoms of its citizens.

Survey Covered More Than 42,000 Respondents

Pew Research Center said the survey covered more than 42,000 respondents across 35 countries, as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The reported margins of error ranged from 2.3 to 5.5 percentage points depending on the country.

Overall, the findings indicate a broad shift in global public opinion, with China gaining favourability as perceptions of the United States weakened across much of the world.

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