For the first time since the Pew Research Center began tracking global attitudes more than two decades ago, China has overtaken the United States in overall favorability across a majority of surveyed countries, reflecting a notable shift in international public opinion.
The findings, released by the US-based non-partisan Pew Research Center, are based on interviews with more than 42,000 respondents across 36 countries and territories between February and May this year.
According to the survey, people in 25 of the 36 countries and territories expressed more favorable views of China than of the United States. The shift marks the first time since Pew launched its global attitudes project in 2002 that China has outperformed the US on such a broad scale.
Countries recording some of the largest swings towards China included Spain, Indonesia, Italy, Greece and Canada. Positive perceptions of China also reached record levels in several countries, including Italy, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Turkey.
Only six countries continued to view the United States more favorably than China: Poland, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan and Israel—most of them long-standing US allies.
The survey also found that confidence in both US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping remained generally low. However, respondents in many countries expressed greater confidence in Xi than in Trump when asked who they trusted more to handle global affairs.
Pakistan recorded the highest confidence in Xi at 83%, while Japan had the lowest at 7%. For Trump, the highest confidence level came from the Philippines at 68%, while respondents in the West Bank and East Jerusalem registered the lowest level at 4%.
Although respondents continued to view the United States as more respectful of personal freedoms than China, the gap between the two countries has narrowed compared with previous surveys.
At the same time, many respondents viewed Washington as more likely than Beijing to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Across several middle-income countries included in additional polling, a median of 75% said the United States interferes in other nations’ affairs either “a great deal” or “a fair amount,” compared with 45% who said the same about China.
Researchers observed that favorable views of China have generally increased in middle-income countries, while wealthier nations remain comparatively more critical. Singapore stood out as a notable exception, maintaining both a high income level and a relatively positive view of China.
The survey also highlighted stark regional differences. Around nine in ten respondents in Pakistan held favorable views of China, whereas only about one in ten respondents in Japan expressed similar sentiments.
Jonathan Schulman, one of the Pew researchers, said the organization had previously recorded declines in global support for the United States, including during the final year of George W Bush’s presidency and at the beginning of Donald Trump’s first term. However, China had not previously emerged as the more positively viewed global power on such a wide scale.
Analysts say several recent international developments may have influenced public opinion. The polling period coincided with heightened geopolitical tensions, including the conflict involving Iran, while recent US foreign policy positions and disputes with allies have also drawn international scrutiny.
Chong Ja Ian, a non-resident scholar with Carnegie China, said many countries now see China as a more predictable international actor, even if concerns remain about its domestic governance and authoritarian political system.
The latest findings suggest that while neither global power enjoys overwhelmingly positive perceptions, China’s international image has improved significantly in recent years as confidence in the United States has weakened across much of the world.