Chinese Public Favorability Toward South Korea Rises... U.S. Favorability Also Increases

Tsinghua CISS "International Security Survey"
79% of Respondents Say "U.S. Is Containing China's Rise"

A recent survey found that Chinese public sentiment toward South Korea has improved ahead of President Lee Jaemyung's upcoming state visit to China.

According to the "2025 Chinese Perceptions of International Security" report released recently by the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Tsinghua University on January 2, the center conducted two surveys of 2,000 mainland Chinese citizens aged 18 and older in July and November last year. The results showed that the favorability rating for South Korea was 2.61 out of 5, up by 0.51 points from 2.10 in the previous year's survey. Chinese favorability toward South Korea was 2.60 in the initial 2023 survey, dropped to 2.10 in 2024, and then rose again last year. This appears to reflect the recent trend of improving China-South Korea relations.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are seen leaving the meeting room while conversing after concluding the U.S.-China summit on October 30 last year at Naraemaru Protocol Hall, Busan Gimhae Air Base. Photo by Yonhap News

Among the major countries surveyed, Russia received the highest favorability rating at 3.48. However, favorability toward Russia has been declining, from 3.67 in 2023 to 3.66 in 2024, and dropping further in the latest survey. Following Russia, the countries with the highest favorability ratings were the United Kingdom (2.92), the European Union (2.86), ASEAN (2.74), South Korea (2.61), the United States (2.38), and India (2.06).

Japan, which has been in conflict with China following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks suggesting intervention in the event of a Taiwan contingency, received the lowest favorability rating at 1.90. Japan has ranked as the country with the lowest favorability among Chinese respondents for three consecutive years in CISS surveys.

Although Chinese citizens view the United States more positively than before, there remains significant resentment regarding the U.S.-China strategic competition, and strong support for the government's trade war policies. Chinese favorability toward the United States dropped from 2.19 in 2023 to 1.85 in 2024, but then surged to 2.38 last year. The proportion of respondents who believed that "U.S.-China relations improved over the past year" also rose sharply, from 8.1% in 2024 to 20.3% last year.

However, as many as 78.8% of respondents said that the core of U.S. strategy toward China is "to contain China's development and rise." In addition, 85.1% of all respondents said they support China's retaliatory trade measures against the United States. Among those who supported these measures, an overwhelming majority-94.8%-said they "fully support" them.

In the newly added survey of favorability toward neighboring countries, Pakistan (3.34), Singapore (3.27), Malaysia (3.08), and North Korea (3.08) received high scores, while the Philippines (2.35), India (2.18), and Myanmar (2.13) received relatively lower scores.