Infographic: China's positive view of the US

November 25, 2013, 9:29 PM GMT+0

Chinese people generally have a favorable view of the United States, and are a little more likely than Americans to say that people who are willing to work hard can get ahead in China.

China's governing Communist Party recently held a major meeting of top Party leaders, the third such meeting since Xi Jinping became the Chinese President. The meeting was an opportunity to announce major new policy reforms that, if successful, could spur even greater growth of the Chinese economy. China is already the world's second largest economy, after the United States, and is predicted to overtake the US at some point in the next fifteen years.

Infographics from YouGov China show that the United States is more popular among the Chinese internet-users than many Americans might fear. The United States is the most admired country in the world and Barack Obama is the most admired world leader among China's netizens.

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Only France is more popular with Chinese internet users than the United States, with Japan being, by far, the target of the most intense dislike, as a result of ongoing territorial tensions as well as the massive war crimes committed by the Japanese army in China during the Second World War. Most Chinese people have favorable views of the US and around a fifth have 'extremely favorable' views of the United States.

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Nevertheless, the vast majority of Chinese internet users (71%) expect that their country will be the world's most important economic power in 20 years time. Research from June shows that many Americans agree, with 32% of Americans saying that China would be the most important economic power in twenty years, compared to 29% who think that the US still will be.

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65% of Chinese people say that you can get ahead in China by working hard, while only 24% say that you can't. Similar US polling from August 2013 shows that 63% of Americans say that people willing to work hard can rise to the top but 38% think that "talented people from poor backgrounds don't have a chance".

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