22-Nation Poll Shows China Viewed Positively by
Most Countries Including Its Asian Neighbors
• China’s Economic Growth Considered Positive
But Not Its Increasing Military Power •
• China Seen More Favorably Than US, Russia •
A new BBC World Service Poll of 22 countries
finds that China is viewed as playing a significantly
more positive role in the world than either the US or
Russia, a role more on par with Britain. Asked about
possible future trends, most are positive about China
significantly increasing its economic power in the
world but most are negative about China
significantly increasing its military power.
The poll of 22,953 people was conducted for the
BBC World Service by the international polling firm
GlobeScan
together with
the Program on
International Policy Attitudes
(PIPA) at
the
University of Maryland. The 22-nation fieldwork
was coordinated by GlobeScan and completed
during December 2004 in most countries.
The survey shows that China is viewed as having a
mainly positive influence in the world by a majority
or plurality of citizens in 14 countries. On average
across all countries polled (excluding China itself),
almost half (48%) see China’s influence as positive
and just 30 percent see it as negative, with another
22 percent being noncommittal. In only three
countries does a plurality view Chinese influence as
negative—Germany (47%), US (46%), and Poland
(33%). In no country did a majority of the public
have a negative view of China. Boding well for
China’s future, young people (18-29) worldwide are
much more prone to view China positively (58% on
average).
Particularly striking is that even in neighboring Asian countries that have historically shown substantial
suspicion of China, views are relatively benign. Most notable is India where 66 percent view China
1
positively, despite decades of tensions and a history of border clashes. Positive views are also found in the
Philippines (70%), Indonesia (68%), and Australia (56%). However South