In global survey, people say China exerts economic influence on their country

The biggest jump was in Brazil – from 26 per cent in 2019 to 51 per cent in 2024 – followed by India, Kenya, Argentina, Mexico, Tunisia and Turkey, with the increases ranging from 12 to 19 per cent.

Chile also saw a marked climb although in a different survey time frame. Sixty per cent of Chileans surveyed this year said China was influential in their economy, up from 29 per cent in 2013.

The findings were gathered after a survey of more than 44,000 adults in 35 countries conducted between January and May. The countries encompass the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East-North Africa region.

Much of the overseas economic influence is the result of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which began more than 10 years ago. Now, China’s “global outward foreign direct investment is close to US$3 trillion”, the Pew report said.

The report also tracked how views of China’s impact on domestic economic conditions have changed over time.

In eight of the 15 countries where data from previous surveys was available, people’s views of China’s impact have become more negative, Pew found.

Japan saw the biggest jump – from 42 per cent in 2019 to 67 per cent in 2024 – of respondents who said China had a negative impact on their economic conditions.

Israel followed with a rise of 16 percentage points. Argentina increased by 8 percentage points, and South Korea and Tunisia by 7 points compared with 2019.

Mexico was the only country where more people considered China’s influence to be positive, growing from 53 per cent in 2019 to 60 per cent this year.

Looking at results from this year alone, the survey showed that views on China’s economic impact were divided between different income levels.

In the 17 middle-income countries surveyed, a median of 47 per cent of people said China has a positive influence on their country’s economy. When it comes to the 18 high-income countries polled, the survey shows that a median of 57 per cent of people found it negative.

The most negative view was found in the United States, where 76 per cent of respondents said China’s impact was negative, followed by Germany at 69 per cent, France at 68 per cent and Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia at 67 per cent.

In Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand and Peru, 60 per cent or more respondents said China was having a positive impact.