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Pew finds improved global view of China as Donald Trump hurts perceptions of US
By Asia Pacific Newsroom staff with wires
Pew found that views of Xi Jinping were less negative than previously.
In short:
Public opinion in 24 countries surveyed by Pew Research Centre showed a softening of views towards China and its leader, Xi Jinping.
A Pew researcher said US President Donald Trump's trade war had hurt confidence in the United States.
What's next?
New data shows China's economy continues to grow on the back of resilient exports, even despite Mr Trump's trade war.
A majority of Australians say it is more important to have strong economic ties with China than with the United States, according to new research from the Washington-based Pew Research Centre.
Pew's latest survey of 24 countries found that opinion towards the US and its president, Donald Trump, had deteriorated, while views of China and its president, Xi Jinping, had improved in many countries worldwide.
More than half — 53 per cent — of Australians surveyed said they favoured placing more importance on economic ties with China, a large increase from 39 per cent in 2021.
Only 42 per cent of Australians said it was more important to prioritise economic ties with the US — a drop from 52 per cent who said the same thing in 2021.
Still, Australian views of China and Mr Xi remained largely negative.
Some 76 per cent of Australians reported having an unfavourable view of China overall, compared to just 23 per cent who said they viewed China favourably.
Only 17 per cent of Australians reported having confidence in Mr Xi to "do the right thing regarding world affairs", compared with 77 per cent who had "no confidence".
Pew found the US was viewed more favourably than China in eight countries, China was viewed more favourably in seven, and the two were viewed about equally in the remainder.
Donald Trump's political opponents in the US accuse him of ceding global influence to China.
Pew did not provide definitive explanations for the shifts, but Laura Silver, associate director of research, said it was possible that views of a country may change when those of another superpower shift.
"As the US potentially looks like a less reliable partner and people have limited confidence, for example, in Trump to lead the global economy, China may look different in some people's eyes," Dr Silver said.
Also, China's human rights policies and its handling of the pandemic — which were related to negative views of the country in the past — may not weigh as much this time, she said.
Rich countries sour on US except in Israel
A group of Democratic senators this week accused the Trump administration of ceding global influence to China by shuttering foreign aid programs, imposing tariffs on allies, cracking down on elite universities, and restricting visas for international students.
In the Pew findings, 35 per cent of those in 10 high-income countries surveyed consistently — including Canada, France, Germany and Italy — have favourable opinions of the US, down from 51 per cent from last year.
By comparison, 32 per cent of them have positive views of China, up from last year's 23 per cent.
And 24 per cent of them say they have confidence in Mr Trump, compared with 53 per cent last year for then-US president Joe Biden.
Mr Xi scored a slight improvement: 22 per cent of those in these rich countries say they have confidence in the Chinese president, up from last year's 17 per cent.
However, people in Israel have far more favourable views of the US than of China: 83 per cent of Israelis like the US, compared with 33 per cent who say they have positive views of China.
Some 69 per cent of Israelis said they had confidence in Mr Trump, while only 9 per cent expressed confidence in Mr Xi.
Mr Trump is a popular figure among Israelis.
Pew surveyed more than 30,000 people across 25 countries — including the US, which was excluded from the comparison — from January 8 to April 26, 2025.
The margins of error for each country ranged from plus or minus 2.5 to plus or minus 4.7.
China's economy grows robustly despite trade war
The Chinese economy slowed slightly in the last quarter as Mr Trump's trade war escalated, but it still expanded at a robust 5.2 per cent pace, officials said on Tuesday (Beijing time).
That compares with 5.4 per cent annual growth in January-March.
Strong exports have kept China's economy afloat.
Chinese authorities said that in quarterly terms, the world's second-largest economy expanded by 1.1 per cent.
In the first half of the year, the Chinese economy grew at a 5.3 per cent annual pace, the official data show.
However, some analysts said actual growth may have been significantly slower.
Zichun Huang of Capital Economics noted that investments in fixed assets such as factory equipment rose only 2.8 per cent in the first half of the year, implying 2.9 per cent annual growth in May and a mere 0.5 per cent increase in June.
The 5.2 per cent growth rate overstates the pace of expansion by about 1.5 percentage points, she said.
Capital Economics' activity proxy shows growth in China's gross domestic product, or GDP, at less than 4 per cent year-on-year in April and May, Dr Huang said, forecasting annual growth of 3.5 per cent for full-year 2025.
"The economic outlook for the rest of the year remains challenging," she wrote in a report.
Dr Huang added, though, that "political pressure to meet annual growth targets, even if only on paper, means that published GDP growth will be much higher".
Why Australia's iron ore sector is safe, according to former ambassador to China. (Kirsten Aiken)
A key factor behind the latest upbeat data was strong exports.
On Monday, China reported that its exports accelerated in June, rising 5.8 per cent from a year earlier, up from a 4.8 per cent increase in May.
Production of high-tech products, vehicles and electrical machinery and equipment rose by about 10 per cent or more from a year earlier.
A reprieve on painfully high tariffs on Chinese exports to the US prompted a rush of orders by companies and consumers as the two sides resumed trade talks.
Chinese companies also have expanded exports to and offshore manufacturing in other countries such as Vietnam, helping to offset the impact of higher tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
But a 0.1 per cent decline in consumer prices in the first half of 2025 showed continuing weakness in domestic demand, a long-term challenge for the ruling communist party as the Chinese population declines and ages.
Those troubles deepened during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Falling property prices and slowing retail sales were also of concern, said Lynne Song of ING Economics.
Price cutting by Chinese manufacturers to help compete in overseas markets is adding to deflationary pressures that ultimately erode their competitiveness, Louise Loo of Oxford Economics said in a report.
Chinese leaders have set a growth target of 5 per cent for this year, in line with last year's growth.
A resumption of US tariffs of up to 245 per cent if Washington and Beijing fail to meet an August 12 deadline for a new trade deal could derail the recovery in exports, a major driver of growth and employment.
