More Americans have favorable opinion of China

An American woman takes a selfie with someone in a lion costume in Manhattan's Chinatown in New York to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. [Photo: Xinhua]

The American people's favorability of China has seen an increase over the past year. In fact, 44 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of China, up seven percentage points year-on-year.

According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted from February to March, 39 percent of Republicans view China favorably, an increase of 12 percentage points over 2015; while the Democrats' attitude is more friendly, with nearly half of them having a favorable opinion of China.

Young Americans take a more favorable opinion of China than seniors. The poll showed 51 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 have a favorable attitude towards China, while the figure for those ages 30 to 49 is 47 percent and only 36 percent for those over 50 years old.

The Pew Research Center speculates that the optimistic view on America's economic growth has prompted the increase on people's favorable view on China. At present, 58 percent of Americans think the country's economy is sound, 14 percentage points higher than that of last year.