China's increasing global role does not translate finto support for Chinese leadership China plays a role in the world today compared to 10 years ago As Less Having as the world's leading power would be better for the world
A global median of 70% say China plays a more important role in the world than it did 10 years ago. Russia is a distant second in this assessment, with only 42% saying that country is more important than it was a decade ago. A median of only 31% believe the U.S. plays a more important role than it did a decade ago – less than half of the share who say this of China. Only 8% of those surveyed say China plays a less important role than it did a decade ago, the lowest share across the seven countries tested. In the U.S., 72% believe China is more important now than it was a decade ago, while only 31% of Americans say the same about their own country.
While most agree that China’s global role has grown over the past decade, a lack of enthusiasm for Chinese world leadership persists. A median of 34% of people around the world currently regard China as the world’s leading economic power – only slightly less than the 39% who picked the U.S. Yet when thinking about the future, a 25-country median of 63% say they prefer a world in which the U.S. is the leading power, while just 19% would favor one in which China leads. Notably, four of the five countries most inclined to choose the U.S. over China are located in the Asia-Pacific region: 81% of Japanese, 77% of Filipinos, 73% of South Koreans and 72% of Australians all favor a future where Washington, not Beijing, leads.
China's increasing global role does not translate finto  | support for Chinese leadership  | China plays a role in the world today compared to 10 years ago  | As  | Less  | More  | important important  | important  | 70%  | 16%  | 8%  | is the world's leading economic power  | China  | EU Japan  | U.S.  | 34%  | 39%  | 7%  | 7%  | Having as the world's leading power would be better for the world  | Both/Neither/  | U.S.  | China  | Don't know  | 15%  | 19%  | 63%  | Note: Percentages are medians based on 25 countries.  | Source Spring 2018 Global Attitudes Survey. Q29, Q32a & Q33.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 