China has handled the coronavirus pandemic better than the US and is the world’s leading economic power, those living in major nations believe.
That is according to a new survey that found 84 per cent of people agree America has handled its pandemic response badly, compared to 61 per cent for China.
Meanwhile, more than half pointed to Beijing when asked to identify the world’s economic superpower, compared to a third who named the US.
84 per cent of people in 14 major world countries believe the US has done a bad job handling coronavirus, compared to 61 per cent who think the same about China, a survey has shown
Other than the US itself, respondents in every other country thought China has done a better job handling the pandemic than America
The survey was complied by Pew Research, who interviewed people from 14 countries including the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, and Australia.
Other advanced economies including Japan and South Korea were also included in the research.
Overall, a majority of people in the countries surveyed believe that China has handled the virus badly – but people have an even worse perception of America’s virus response.
In every country surveyed – except for the US itself – more people said Washington was doing badly at handling the virus than Beijing.
The difference was particularly stark in European countries, where and average of 56 per cent of people said Beijing was doing badly compared to 84 per cent for the US.
And, amid economic turmoil caused by the virus and with the Chinese economy appearing to recover quickly, respondents agreed that Beijing is the world’s ‘leading economic power’.
In every country except the US, Japan and South Korea, more people pointed to China than to the US as the world’s economic superpower.
A majority of people in Europe and Australia also believe China is the world’s leading economic power, with only those in the US, Japan and South Korea thinking otherwise
China has claimed one of the best virus responses considering its population size, though skepticism has been raised over much of its data
In Europe, 51 per cent of people pointed to China, while just 34 per cent said the US.
The difference was the most stark in Germany, where 55 per cent said China and 17 per cent said America.
The report is not all good reading for Beijing, however, as it shows that negative opinion about China has soared in the last year – driven in part by the virus.
Meanwhile confidence in the country’s leadership, and Xi Jinping specifically, has also dramatically fallen in the last 12 months.
In all 14 countries surveyed, researchers found that a majority have negative views of China, with those in Spain, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the U.S., the UK, South Korea, Sweden and Australia reporting record-levels of mistrust.
Meanwhile the percentage of people reporting ‘no confidence in Xi Jinping to do the right thing in world affairs’ also shot up over the same period.
At least 70 per cent of people in each country surveyed said they had no confidence in Xi, with only Donald Trump ranking worse among world leaders – with Putin ranking higher than both.
China has laid claim to one of the best responses to coronavirus among populous nations, officially reporting just 90,000 cases and 4,700 deaths.
The US has suffered the most officially-recorded coronavirus cases of any country in the world – among them President Trump, who was discharged from hospital on Monday
However, the report is not all good reading for Beijing, with negative opinions of the country soaring in the wake of coronavirus
However, skepticism has been raised over the figures amid allegations that the ruling Communist Party covered up large parts of its outbreak.
Meanwhile the US has suffered the largest number of cases of any world nation, with almost 7.5million cases registered and more than 210,000 deaths.
President Trump, who left hospital yesterday after contracting the virus himself, has come in for widespread criticism amid a shambolic response that at first saw him deny and downplay the severity of the disease.
As other major countries went into lockdown he pushed US states to reopen quickly, while casting doubt on figures put forward by his scientific advisers and only belatedly advising people to wear masks.
Meanwhile, the US economy suffered one of its biggest falls in history at the height of the pandemic, dropping 32.9 per cent between April and June as millions of Americans lost their jobs.
While a recovery has taken place in recent months, most experts believe the country will end the year in negative territory.
China also suffered economic hardship during the pandemic, though not nearly on the same scale.
The country’s economy contracted by 7 per cent during the onset of the virus, but has bounced back sharply – with modest growth predicted for the year overall.