China and Xi favored over US and Trump in many nations: Survey

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: China and Xi favored over US and Trump in many nations: Survey July 15, 20264:34 PM ET By The Associated Press FILE - President Donald Trump talks with China's President Xi Jinping at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound, May 15, 2026, in Beijing. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption toggle caption Mark Schiefelbein/AP WASHINGTON — The world has largely viewed the U. more favorably than China for years, but those opinions have flipped in Beijing's favor this year, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, a remarkable shift driven in part by tensions between the Trump administration and U.

More people have favorable views of China than the U. in 25 out of the 36 countries and territories that were surveyed, including Canada and Mexico. The poll was conducted from February to May, a period when the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran.

The Details

Sponsor Message In only six countries do people still see the U. more positively than China, according to the findings released Wednesday. China: Inside a great power rivalry As Trump goes to China, what do Americans say about tariffs, Iran and world standing?

Views in 22 out of the 36 countries and territories also are more favorable of Chinese leader Xi Jinping than U. President Donald Trump, including in Canada, Mexico and major European powers including France, Germany and the U. However, people in many of the countries have low confidence in both men.

It marks the first time in the roughly 20 years Pew has been tracking global opinions that China has been viewed more positively than the U. , said Laura Silver, associate director of Pew's Global Attitudes Research and one of the researchers on the study. Views of Beijing and Washington have been very similar at some points in the past but have not been significantly more favorable for China until now, she said.

What Experts Say

The shift follows the COVID-19 pandemic becoming a distant issue and as global views of the U. have soured, Silver said. National Many Americans say the U.

is not a moral leader but want it to be: NPR/Ipsos poll "There was just an actual relationship between the outbreak of the war and the sense that the U. is just not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less confidence in Donald Trump," she said. Trump's demands to control Greenland, the American military raid that captured Venezuela's then-leader Nicolás Maduro, and the U.

handling of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza also have led to low approval in many countries, Silver said. has done a lot in terms of global engagement in recent months to years that is not being perceived positively internationally," she said. Sponsor Message Aside from benefiting from the fading memory of the pandemic, China appears to have gained from comparison with the U.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.