After multiple global polls recently showed China's growing international favorability, a new survey conducted by United States-based nonpartisan organization Pew Research Center indicates that US public opinion on China is also taking a positive turn, slowly and steadily.

Experts attribute this shift to several factors, including China's sound development and its more authentic portrayal on diverse social media channels. This changing trend could pave the way for cooperation in key areas and contribute to greater stability in bilateral relations, they said.

The Pew Research Center poll results, which were released on Tuesday, reveal an uptick in positive sentiment toward China. The number of adult US respondents who expressed a favorable view of China has reached 27 percent, almost double the figure in 2023, marking the third consecutive year of improving public opinion.

The poll, which surveyed more than 8,500 adults in the US in January and March, also found that, compared with last year, fewer US adults now consider China as an outright "enemy", indicating a paradigm shift from purely adversarial narratives.

Wei Zongyou, a professor at Fudan University's Center for American Studies in Shanghai, cited China's economic resilience and its diplomatic approach as key factors behind improving US public opinion.

"Against a backdrop of global economic sluggishness, China's development remains robust, and its role in fields such as AI remains prominent. Also, China consistently advocates for global peace and dialogue. These realities show the American public that China is not a 'threat', but an important force for global economic growth and stability," Wei said.

Experts highlighted the pivotal role played by social media in shaping positive public opinion.

"The prevalence of social platforms allows ordinary people in the US to see a more authentic China beyond the negative portrayals of the country often found in mainstream American media," Wei said, adding that this contributes to unbiased public opinion.

The trend is most pronounced among younger US adults, reflecting a stark generational divide.

About one-third of respondents under age 50 viewed China favorably, compared with 19 percent of those age 50 and older, the poll found.

A user of Chinese lifestyle-sharing app Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, who identifies herself as Lane, a 16-year-old high school student from California, vindicated the poll. "Younger generation (30 and under) have a positive opinion of China, or no strong opinion, because we have access to social media and can see China for what it is," Lane told China Daily, referring to livestreamed tours of China by influencers.

Wei, the Fudan University professor, linked this generational divide to younger people's "more open minds" and the fact that they are "less constrained by ideological stereotypes". Young people's increasing reliance on social media for information over traditional news sources allows them to form a more unbiased and authentic picture of China's development, he said.

Wei recalled that US students visiting China to attend short-term study programs often expressed surprise at the stark disparity between the friendly society they saw and what US mainstream media reported. "Youth exchanges help break down prejudice and information barriers," he added.

Although China's overall favorability in the US is steadily rising, the survey found that US adults are still more likely to label China as a "competitor". Experts caution that while the positive shift in public opinion could contribute to more stable China-US ties, it does not automatically alter the structural logic of existing competition dynamics.

Sun Chenghao, head of the US-Europe Program at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy, said the fact that people in the US see China more as a "competitor" rather than an "enemy" does help to foster "a less emotionally charged social environment for bilateral relations, opening up space for engagement in areas such as trade, people-to-people exchanges and climate issues".

However, he emphasized that improved public opinion would not automatically rewrite the institutional logic of US strategic competition with China. "This change is more likely to create space for cooperation within a context of managed competition, rather than signal an end to competition," he said.

yangran1@chinadaily.com.cn