Think tank: China overtakes US in global favourability for first time in two decades

China is viewed more favourably than the United States in most of the 36 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Centre, marking a significant shift in global public opinion, according to a new report.

The findings suggest the United States' international standing has weakened as President Donald Trump pursues his "America First" agenda, while China's global image has improved, Axios writes.

It is the first time in roughly two decades of Pew's global opinion polling that China has been viewed more positively than the US across many of the countries surveyed.

"It's the first time in some 20 years of Pew global opinion polls that China has surpassed the U.S. in being viewed more positively among many of those surveyed," Laura Silver, associate director of Pew's Global Attitudes Research, told AFP.

The survey, based on interviews with 42,151 people conducted between 8 February and 13 May, covered 36 countries across six continents. The polling period coincided with US and Israeli military strikes against Iran.

According to the report, respondents expressed greater confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping than in President Trump, reversing the trend seen during Joe Biden's presidency, although many participants said they lacked confidence in both leaders.

The United States was viewed more favourably than China in only six countries, including India, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.

The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

The survey also recorded a sharp decline in US favourability among several longstanding allies. In Canada, favourable views of the United States fell from 57% in 2023 to 33% this year, while China's rating rose from 14% to 44%. Similar trends were observed in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Despite the shift, the United States continued to outperform China on perceptions of respect for personal freedoms, though that advantage has narrowed considerably since 2021.

In Sweden, for example, the proportion of respondents who said the US respects personal freedoms dropped from 61% to 27%. Comparable declines were also recorded in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea and Spain.

The report found that many respondents increasingly see China as a more reliable partner and more likely to promote peace and stability. Among the 17 middle-income countries surveyed, a median of 75% said the United States interferes in other countries' affairs, compared with 45% who said the same about China.

"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," Silver said, according to AFP.

The survey covered respondents in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

By Aghakazim Guliyev