Thailand has the most positive views of China, followed by Nigeria, Kenya and Tunisia, a Pew survey shows.
Taipei, Taiwan – China's economic influence is felt around the world, but whether it is viewed positively or negatively depends largely on a country's economic development, according to a survey of 35 countries.
People living in high-income countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia expressed broadly unfavorable views of China overall: A median of 70 percent of people across 18 countries reported negative feelings, according to a survey released this week by the Pew Research Center.
Those perceptions changed in middle-income countries such as Thailand, Kenya and Bangladesh, with a median of 56 percent of respondents across 17 countries reporting favorable views, according to Pew figures released Tuesday.
Within the 35 countries surveyed, individual opinions varied widely: the lowest approval rating was recorded in Sweden (11 percent), followed by Japan (12 percent), Australia (14 percent) and the US (16 percent).
The most positive opinions were reported by Thailand at 80 percent, followed by Nigeria (75 percent), Kenya (73 percent), Tunisia (68 percent) and Singapore (67 percent).
A similar divide was seen regarding perceptions of whether China had a positive or negative influence on the economy specifically.
A median of 57 percent of people in high-income countries viewed China's economic influence negatively, compared with a median of 47 percent of people in middle-income countries who viewed its influence positively.
In the United States, 76 percent of respondents held negative views of China's economic influence, followed by Germany (69 percent), France (68 percent) and Canada (68 percent), with similarly negative views in Europe, Japan, South Korea and India.
Singapore and Malaysia viewed China's economic influence in the most positive light, with 67 percent of respondents expressing favorable views, followed by Nigeria (64 percent) and Thailand (63 percent).
Pew attributed some of the sentiment to the impact of China's massive Belt and Road Initiative, which has invested more than $3 trillion in other countries over the past decade.
Views of Chinese President Xi Jinping were generally negative, with a median of 24 percent of respondents expressing confidence in the leader and 62 percent reporting little or no confidence.
The most unfavorable opinions were held by Japan (87 percent), Australia (85 percent) and Sweden (82 percent).
Singapore and Thailand had the most favorable views of Xi, with 63 percent of respondents saying they had quite a bit or a lot of confidence in the Chinese leader, followed by Malaysia (55 percent) and Bangladesh (51 percent).
Nine middle-income countries surveyed separately about the impact of Chinese companies on their economies reported overall positive views.
An average of 72 percent agreed that Chinese companies are good for their country's economy, with the most positive opinions being given in Thailand (81 percent), Kenya (80 percent) and Bangladesh (79 percent). The trio of countries also reported generally positive opinions about Chinese companies' environmental impact and how they treat local workers.
India had the most negative views: only 49 percent of respondents felt that Chinese companies had a positive impact on their economy, followed by Ghana (55 percent) and South Africa (57 percent).
In the Asia-Pacific region, nine out of ten countries surveyed expressed a high level of concern about China's territorial disputes in the region.
The highest level of concern was expressed in the Philippines, which regularly clashes with Beijing over its claims in the South China Sea, with 91 percent of respondents saying they were at least somewhat concerned.
The Southeast Asian nation was followed by South Korea (87 percent) and Japan (86 percent), which have similar disputes in the East China Sea, Australia (82 percent) and India (69 percent).
