China’s Xi Jinping seen more favourably than Donald Trump in bombshell | World | News
Xi Jinping and Donald Trump (Image: Getty)
US leader Donald Trump may be a less popular figure globally than Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to a new poll.
People surveyed from around the world have viewed the United States more favorably than China for decades, but views have now seemingly reversed thanks to the tensions caused by the Trump administration between the United States and different countries around the world.
Among 25 of the 36 countries and regions surveyed, America is seen as less advantageous than China. Only six countries (Poland, Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan and Israel) view the United States more favorably than China. The data also shows that only one in 10 Europeans now see the United States as an ally, according to survey results.
Major European countries, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy, have changed their views on the world’s two largest economies.
The survey was conducted between February and May, when the United States and Israel were in conflict with Iran in the Middle East.
Embers (Image: Getty)
In particular, the views of those in some US-allied countries such as Canada have changed greatly in recent years. In the new survey, Canadians’ positive views of the United States dropped to just 33% from 57% in 2023. During the same period, the percentage of positive views about China increased from 14% to 44%.
Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on goods outside Canada in 2025. He also claimed that Canada could become the “51st state.”
As for state leaders, people in 22 of 36 countries and regions view China’s Xi Jinping more favorably than U.S. president Donald Trump; This includes people from England, France, Germany, Canada and Mexico. But many have low trust in both men.
According to Laura Silver, deputy director of Pew’s Global Attitude Survey, Pew has been tracking global opinions for two decades; This survey marks the first time China has come out on top compared to the United States.
Silver added that views on Beijing and Washington were at the same level before and have not changed at all until now.
“There was a real relationship between the outbreak of the epidemic. [Iran] war and a sense that the United States is not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less trust in the United States Donald Trumphe said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (Image: Getty)
Silver said Trump’s demands to control Greenland, America’s handing over of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and the United States’ handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza also led to Trump’s low approval rating in many countries. He added that China, in addition to benefiting from the fading memory of the Covid-19 epidemic, also benefits compared to the United States.
“We know that, by comparison, China is viewed in many places as a more reliable partner. We think it is more likely to contribute to global peace and stability,” Silver said.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said Pew’s latest survey “shows that China’s governance achievements and progress in development are widely recognized.”
As for Americans, nearly 6 in 10 had a positive view of the United States in 2023. Three years ago the margin was 32 percentage points in favor of Washington. China and the US are now viewed similarly by Americans.
America is said to have beaten China in another poll. The United States has surpassed China in global corruption indexes, and China is viewed as a more corrupt country than America. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2025, the United States received 64 points out of 100, while China received 43 points out of 100 in the same CPI.
