Americans’ views toward China are changing, according to a recent Pew Research Center report published this April: today, 27 percent of Americans have a positive opinion of China, up six percentage points from last year and nearly double the share from 2023.
Amid several notable findings in the survey, some of the most striking are:
- Confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs has increased four percentage points since last year and has roughly doubled since 2023.
- When asked whether China is a partner, enemy, or competitor of the United States, fewer Americans now describe China as an enemy than in 2025, though most still view it as a competitor.
- Slightly fewer Americans now than last year say China benefits from trade at the expense of the United States.
In an interview conducted on May 4, 2026, Laura Silver joins Steve Orlins to discuss the data on how American perceptions of China have changed over the past year.
