The United States and China are the world’s two preeminent superpowers, but views of them vary widely by country.
This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, compares approval ratings for Beijing and Washington using survey results from more than 42,000 respondents across 36 countries.
The survey was conducted in February 2026 by the Pew Research Center.
China Now Leads in Global Favorability
Public opinion in many countries has shifted in China’s favor amid changes in U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy.
In 27 of the 36 countries surveyed, China received a higher approval rating than the United States. These include U.S. allies and neighbors such as Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
The following table lists 2026 approval ratings for China and the U.S. across all 36 countries surveyed.
Country Approval (%) of U.S. 🇺🇸 Approval (%) of China 🇨🇳 China-U.S. Gap (%) 🇵🇰 Pakistan 15 90 75 🇲🇾 Malaysia 19 75 56 🇵🇸 Palestine 9 57 48 🇮🇩 Indonesia 29 72 43 🇸🇬 Singapore 34 73 39 🇹🇭 Thailand 36 69 33 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 42 72 30 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 26 56 30 🇹🇷 Turkey 13 43 30 🇪🇸 Spain 30 54 24 🇮🇹 Italy 31 51 20 🇲🇽 Mexico
