New Pew Research Centre data shows China is now seen in a more positive light than the US in most of 37 countries surveyed and more people, overall, now say they have confidence in Xi rather than Trump.

Donald Trump’s would-be, perhaps may-be, dictatorship aspirations have had a precipitous effect on how the US is viewed in the world. That is clear in the just released (15 July) results of the annual Pew Research Centre survey comparing how the US and China are viewed in a range of nations. 

The survey of more than 45,000 people in 37 countries, conducted between 8 February and 13 May 2026 – therefore complicated by part of it being conducted before the US attack on Iran, the rest after – confirms a trend of fast-falling trust in the US and steady rise in support for both China and its president, Xi Jinping.

Across the countries surveyed, a median of 51 per cent have a favourable view of China, while 39 per cent do not. China is seen more positively than the US in 25 of the 37 countries.

In 20, mainly high income, countries, which have a longer survey history, China is viewed favourably by 46 per cent to the US 36 per cent, a strong reversal from figures a year prior showing the US at 48 per cent and China 38 per cent. Among those nations, as recently as 2022, the US was favoured 63 per cent (China 21 per cent).

Many of the larger shifts to China have occurred in nations with strongly negative views towards China in the last five years, including Australia,........

© Pearls and Irritations