Trump will head to Beijing amid warming trend in sentiment about China at home

American views on China have softened ahead of a high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in May, with positive sentiment nearly doubling since 2023, a survey by the Pew Research Centre has found.

While a significant majority of Americans still regard China as a competitor to the US rather than a partner, fewer call the world’s second largest economy an adversary than in 2025, according to the survey, which was conducted in March and released on Tuesday.

“Today, 27 per cent of Americans have a positive opinion of China. That has risen 6 percentage points since last year and nearly doubled since 2023,” Pew reported.

Despite the warming trend, most Americans still view China unfavourably, a sentiment that has held for the better part of a decade.

Pew’s analysis used data from two 2026 surveys, conducted in January and March, of 12,000 adults representing a broad cross-section of the US population.

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“China may seem less threatening to people these days. In the US, the share of people who describe China as an enemy has fallen since last year – particularly among Democrats,” said Laura Silver, associate director at Pew.

South China Morning Post