For the first time in about two decades of Pew Research Center tracking, the rest of the world now views China more favorably than the United States. A survey of 42,151 adults across 36 countries, published July 15, found China rated more positively than the US in a majority of them - with America leading in only about six [1].

The reversal extends to the two leaders. Across the surveyed publics, more people now express confidence in Xi Jinping than in Donald Trump to do the right thing in world affairs - both at low levels, but with Xi, for the first time, ahead [1]. Pew's read is that the shift is driven less by a rising opinion of China than by a falling one of the United States.

The sharpest movement is among US allies and neighbors. In Canada, favorable views flipped from 57 percent for the US and 14 percent for China in 2023 to 44 percent for China and 33 percent for the US in 2026 [1]. In South Africa, 72 percent call China a reliable partner against 46 percent for the US; in Pakistan, it is 84 to 36 [1].

In Canada, favorability flipped from the US to China (2023 to 2026)
US, 202357% favorableChina, 202314% favorableUS, 202633% favorableChina, 202644% favorable
Among US allies the shift is sharpest: in Canada, favorable views of the US fell from 57% to 33% while China’s rose from 14% to 44% (2023 to 2026). Pew says the reversal is driven by falling US ratings [1].
Data
US, 202357% favorable
China, 202314% favorable
US, 202633% favorable
China, 202644% favorable

The finding sits awkwardly beside a central claim of the administration's foreign policy - that American standing has been restored, that the world respects the US again [1]. What the largest recent survey of global opinion records is the opposite motion: an erosion of favorability wide enough that, country by country, more of the world now looks more warmly on Beijing than on Washington - and, by Pew's reading, the decline is America's own [1].