{"id":27912,"date":"2022-09-28T11:57:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T16:57:09","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-03-19T11:43:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:43:51","slug":"how-global-public-opinion-of-china-has-shifted-in-the-xi-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2022\/09\/28\/how-global-public-opinion-of-china-has-shifted-in-the-xi-era\/","title":{"rendered":"How Global Public Opinion of China Has Shifted in the Xi Era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How Global Public Opinion of China Has Shifted in the Xi Era<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
By<\/span> Laura Silver<\/a>, <\/span>Christine Huang<\/a> and<\/span> Laura Clancy<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Chinese Communist Party is preparing for its 20th National Congress, an event likely to result in an unprecedented third term for President Xi Jinping. Since Xi took office in 2013, opinion of China in the U.S. and other advanced economies has turned precipitously more negative. How did it get to be this way? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S., views of China experienced minor fluctuations in the years preceding Xi\u2019s presidency.<\/strong> Throughout this period, around four-in-ten or more had positive views of China and only a minority had negative views of the country. Still, views ebbed and flowed somewhat alongside domestic and international events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative views of China were slightly more elevated when Xi took office and during President Barack Obama\u2019s second term.<\/strong> Alongside frictions in the bilateral relationship<\/a>, such as China\u2019s efforts at land reclamation in the South China Sea and America\u2019s negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, American views of China turned somewhat more negative, with around half or more saying they had an unfavorable view of the superpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As President Donald Trump took office, views of China improved somewhat.<\/strong> Early in Trump\u2019s tenure, he heaped praise<\/a> on Xi, inviting him to his residence at Mar-a-Lago and discussing their personal chemistry<\/a>. Republican views of China, in particular, turned significantly less negative during these two years and in 2018, there were no partisan differences in views of China for the first time since 2008 \u2013 a year that was characterized by a new administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views of China soured as the trade war took hold \u2013 particularly among Republicans.<\/strong> The trade war \u2013 which began in July 2018 and resulted in numerous tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S. and China<\/a> \u2013 was accompanied by increasingly unfavorable views of China. Between 2018 and 2019, negative views among Republicans increased nearly 20 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfavorable views of China continued to increase as COVID-19 spread globally.<\/strong> By March 2020, around three-quarters of Americans had unfavorable opinions of China \u2013 a view which was particularly high among those who thought China was doing a bad job handling COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large majority of Americans see China unfavorably amid concerns about China\u2019s policies on human rights, its partnership with Russia and other factors. <\/strong>Views of China continue to be broadly negative as Americans view multiple issues<\/a> in the bilateral relationship as very serious problems for the U.S. (In 2020, Pew Research Center switched the mode<\/a> by which it asks views of China.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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