Per-country polling showed that China’s efforts to build support in developing countries is working.Go Nakamura/Reuters
International views of China have improved in over a dozen countries – for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began – at the same time as the popularity of the United States has suffered under President Donald Trump, according to the Pew Research Center.
In its latest annual survey of 25 countries, Pew said that while a majority of respondents still had an unfavourable opinion of China, that figure has fallen by seven points to 54 per cent, with 36 per cent of respondents saying they viewed Beijing favourably.
“In many of the countries surveyed, views of the U.S. have turned significantly more negative over the past year, while views of China have turned slightly more positive,” Pew researchers Jonathan Schulman and Laura Silver wrote in the report.
For instance, Pew found that about a third of Canadians have a favourable view of the U.S. and China – 34 per cent each. “But this reflects a 20-percentage-point decrease from 2024 in the share of Canadians with a favourable view of the U.S.,” the report authors wrote. “And a 13-point increase in the share with a favourable view of China.”
Per-country polling showed that China’s efforts to build support in developing countries is working, with respondents in nations such as Nigeria, Kenya and Indonesia far more likely to be positive towards Beijing than those in wealthier countries.
Of the 25 countries surveyed, only one, South Korea, recorded a drop in favourability toward Beijing. Most others saw single digit improvements, with even the U.S. recording a five per cent boost.
Much of this swing was driven by younger respondents, Pew said, with half of Canadians aged 18 to 34 having a positive view of China, compared to just 23 per cent of those over 50.
In most cases, the country’s relative popularity did not translate into greater confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pew found, with only 25 per cent of respondents saying they trusted Mr. Xi “to do the right thing regarding world affairs.” Though in this case too, that figure is an improvement on last year by several percentage points.
Respondents in a majority of countries surveyed said they regarded China as the world’s top economy, or joint-top with the U.S., while only nine countries – including Canada and the U.S. itself – ranked the U.S. number one.
“In eight countries, the share of people who see the U.S. as the world’s top economic power has decreased since 2023,” the Pew report said. “Canada is a notable exception. Today, Canadians are 10 points more likely than in 2023 to call the U.S. the leading economic power – and nine points less likely to name China.”
This may be a result of Mr. Trump’s trade war, which for many Canadians, has driven home how much their country relies on the U.S. economically. Almost 70 per cent of Canadians said they viewed economic ties with the U.S. as more important than with China. Canada was one of 14 countries who responded this way, a finding that underlines how Beijing has struggled to capitalize on the disruption caused by Mr. Trump’s aggressive tariff policies.
The trade war has had an effect on sentiment, however. One question asked by Pew was “What country or group poses the greatest threat to your country in the future?”
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In Indonesia, Canada and South Africa, respondents once ranked China as the leading threat – now majorities in all three countries regard the U.S. as more dangerous. In Mexico, only five per cent of respondents said they viewed China as threatening, compared to 68 per cent saying the same about the U.S.
Pew’s research may not fully capture a growing negative swing against the U.S. either, with surveying in most countries done ahead of Mr. Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, announced in early April.
Last month, separate research published by Pew found that more than half of respondents in 19 countries “lack confidence in Trump’s leadership of world affairs.”
“Overall ratings of the United States have declined in 15 nations since last spring, including drops of 20 percentage points or more in Mexico, Sweden, Poland and Canada,” Pew reported last month.