A new survey of wealthy nations finds favourable views rising for the US while declining for China

Public opinions in 24 countries — mostly rich nations — have grown more favourable of the United States than of China, according to the latest survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre.

The gap in favourability of the world's two largest economies widened after views of the US rebounded since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, the report found.

Favourable views of both countries fell in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, but the ratings for China remained low during the latest survey, the Pew centre said, “leading to some of the largest gaps in these views we have seen in our polling”.

The report, released on Monday, comes as the two countries are intensely competing for global influence. President Xi Jinping wants China to be respected and trusted around the world, while Biden has made it a priority to mend relationships with US allies.

“This year, overall views of the United States are much more positive than views of China in most places surveyed,” the report said. “But this has not always been the case in our nearly two decades of favourability polling, and views of the countries have fluctuated alongside views of their leaders.'' The 2019 survey recorded a median of 55 per cent across 22 countries showing favorable views of the US, compared to a median of 39 per cent of China.

In 2020, when Pew conducted surveys in a much smaller set of countries because of the pandemic, medians of 38 per cent and 25 per cent had favourable views of the US and China, respectively.

Of the same countries in 2023, medians of 58 per cent and 21 per cent had positive views of the US and China, respectively. Medians are only of the 10 countries surveyed in both years, exclusive of the US and Australia, Pew's research analysts said.

In the latest survey, the gaps were most significant in Poland, Japan and South Korea, where more than 70 per cent of the respondents rated the US positively, compared with fewer than 30 per cent who viewed China favourably, said Pew, which conducted nationally representative surveys in 24 countries in 2023.

Japan and South Korea, neighbours of China, have had a historically tense relationship with each other. In a diplomatic breakthrough, Biden held a trilateral summit with Japan's prime minister and South Korea's president at Camp David in August, hailed by supporters as forging a strong partnership countering China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The differences in favourable public opinions of the US and China narrowed in middle-income countries such as Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico, and China overtook the US in favourability in Nigeria, where both countries were highly favoured, the report said.

Middle-income countries accounted for about one third of the countries surveyed by Pew, and no low-income country was included in the latest study.

The centre said it was unable to conduct in-person surveys in less developed countries during the pandemic but planned to gauge public opinions in those countries when travel becomes easier.

“In the months ahead, we intend to continue expanding our country coverage to a more economically and geographically diverse set of countries,” said Laura Clancy, a research analyst at Pew.

In China, the leadership has touted that the country has gained more friends and that friendships have become stronger around the world, typically among developing nations. Beijing's massive global infrastructure building scheme, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, is credited with bringing economic benefits to foreign countries and winning friends for Beijing, according to China's state media, contrary to Western criticism that those projects could saddle host countries with debt and harm the environment.

The views of the US have shifted over time alongside changes to the presidency, Clancy said.

In 2023, a median of 56 per cent across 22 countries had confidence in Biden, compared to 19 per cent in Xi.

In 2019, medians of the same 22 countries having confidence Donald Trump, then the US president, and Xi were 31 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively.

In the latest survey, 83 per cent people in Poland expressed confidence in Biden, compared to 8 per cent in Xi, registering the widest gap of 75 percentage points, the report said.

The spread was at least 50 points in countries such as Germany, Japan and Sweden. The gap narrowed in middle-income countries, but still more had more confidence in Biden and Xi, the report said.

“These gaps in views of the American and Chinese leaders reflect both souring attitudes toward Xi in high-income countries and greater confidence in Biden – particularly compared with his predecessor, Donald Trump,” the report said.

In 2007, the gaps between the US and China in terms of likeability were narrower under different leaders in both countries.

Then, a median of 53 per cent across 15 countries reported favourable views of the US, compared to a median of 43 per cent with favourable views of China. In 2023, medians of 59 per cent and 27 per cent across the same countries had favourable views of the US and of China, respectively, according to Pew.

That was near the end of the George W. Bush presidency in 2007, when confidence in Bush was limited, and China's then-President Hu Jintao received more positive ratings, the centre said.

In other results, the Pew polls have found: — The surveyed countries were more likely to see the US as interfering in the affairs of other countries than China.

— Most countries said the US accounted for their country's interests more so than China. Israel led the pack with a 65-percentage-point difference.

— The US got higher marks than China for contributing to global peace and stability. The difference was greatest in Japan, where 79 per cent said the US contributed at least a fair amount to international stability, compared to 14 per cent who said the same of China.

— Most considered the US to be the leading economy. In South Korean, 83 per cent of the respondents said the US was the world's leading economic power, compared to only 8 per cent who said China was the leading power. Italy was on the other end of the spectrum, with 55 per cent of the respondents said China was the leading economy, compared to 31 per cent who would give that title to the US.