As per a report released on July 27, perceptions of China abroad are souring largely because of its foreign policy decisions and a lack of confidence in President Xi Jinping. Majorities in 15 of the 24 nations surveyed held an unfavorable opinion of China, with negative ratings at record highs in 10 of them.

Japan and Australia had the highest number of people expressing discontent, at 87%.
A sharp drop in trust
In India, 67% of respondents had an unfavourable view of China — a 21 percentage point increase compared to the last time the survey was done in India in 2019.

One of the major reasons for the deterioration in trust is likely India’s recent border tensions with China along the Line of Actual Control.
Nearly 75% of all respondents said they “think China does not take into account the interests of other countries in its foreign policy,” while more than half said “China interferes in the affairs of other nations a great deal or fair amount”.
In India, 58% of the respondents said they think China does ‘not at all or not too much’ consider India’s interests when making foreign policy decisions.
This is a sharp rise from 28% in 2013. In fact, India leads the list of countries where there is a growing sense of China discounting their interest.
No contribution to global peace, interventionist
Across the countries surveyed, people largely do not think of China as contributing to global peace and stability.
Nearly 71% of all respondents hold this view. In India, 62% said they think China does ‘not at all or not too much’ contribute to peace.
In fact, most in the countries surveyed – including nearly all of the middle-income countries – said China is prone to interfering in the affairs of other countries.
A median of 57% hold this view. Two-thirds or more in India, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the US believe China meddles in other countries’ affairs.
Not an economic powerhouse
Only around a third of the 24 countries surveyed see China as the world’s leading economic power. Most other countries – including all middle-income countries surveyed – give that title to the US.
Perceptions of China’s investments are related to views of its economic power and its overall image.
In India, 53% saw the US as the economic powerhouse while only 14% said it was China. And even out of those 14%, nearly 40% said China being the leading economic power is a “bad thing”.
Around 54% of respondents in India also said that investment from China has ‘not at all or not too much’ benefited the country’s economy.
More than half of the respondents in India also opined that products made in China such as phones, tablets and computers were fairly cheap compared to other alternatives but were poorly made and there was no guarantee of data security.
Waning confidence in Xi
Confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs is low across most surveyed nations, with the notable exception of countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Majorities in three-quarters of the countries surveyed have little or no confidence in Xi, including India where the figure stood at 57%.
In most of the countries last surveyed in 2019, ratings of China’s leader have also worsened.
In India, the share who has little or no confidence in Xi went up 21 percentage points over the last four years.