A scene of Shanghai Photos: VCG

Nearly 60 percent of respondents from 19 countries (excluding China) expressed their desire for their countries to have closer and friendlier relations with China, according to a survey recently released by the Global Times Institute (GTI). 

From November 7 to December 1, 2023, the Global Times Institute conducted a survey using a commercially available online sample library to invite respondents across 20 countries to participate. The survey was conducted in 16 languages including Chinese, English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and French, and targeted residents aged 18 and above in 20 countries including China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Germany, France, the UK, the US, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Brazil, and Argentina. A total of approximately 17,000 valid questionnaires were collected.

The survey covers a range of questions, such as, how do respondents in foreign countries view the Chinese path to modernization and how do respondents view their countries' relations with China.

According to the survey, on average, over 30 percent of respondents hoped for "closer and much more friendly" ties with China, while more than 20 percent wished for "much closer and much friendlier" relations. 

Experts told the Global Times that more and more people in other countries enjoy benefits from cooperating with China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). At the same time, China is actively contributing efforts to the global development cause and sharing its development experiences when needed by other countries, instead of forcibly imposing its own ideology as do the US and other Western countries. Therefore, it has gained more popularity on the international stage, especially among Global South countries. 

The survey revealed that in seven countries including Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, close to or more than 70 percent of respondents hoped for better bilateral relations with China. Similarly, in six countries including the UK, France, the US, and Australia, around half of the respondents were of the same opinion.

The survey also found out that in India, almost half of the respondents hoped for closer and friendlier ties, while the proportion of those hoping for the status quo to remain and those looking for a more distant, hostile relationship were roughly equal, at around 25 percent.

Nearly half of the respondents in Japan hope that future relations between the two countries remain unchanged which constitutes a relative majority, while nearly 30 percent hope for more distance and hostility. In South Korea, the proportions of those who hope to maintain the status quo and those who hope for a friendlier relationship are roughly equal, at around 40 percent each.

Zhu Feng, director of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University, told the Global Times that the attitude of respondents from Japan and South Korea reflects the deepening of a series of contentious topics between China and these two East Asian neighbors in economic, social, political, and diplomatic fields. But China, Japan, and South Korea are immovable neighbors in East Asia, and from both a historical standpoint and economic and social perspectives, we have strong connections. 

Their attitude is a timely reminder, that is, how China's policies toward South Korea and Japan can be more effective, more pragmatic, and more heartfelt. This is also a key point for new strategic thinking and planning for China, Zhu noted.