China's Xi Jinping seen more favourably than Donald Trump in bombshell worldwide poll

US leader Donald Trump may be a less popular figure globally than China’s Xi Jinping, according to a new poll.

For decades, people surveyed around the world have viewed the US in a more favourable light than China, but, thanks to tensions caused by the Trump administration between the US and different countries around the world, opinions have now seemingly flipped.

Out of 25 out of the 36 countries and territories surveyed, America is viewed as less favourable than China. Only six countries – Poland, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan and Israel – view the US more positively than China. The data also suggests that only one in 10 Europeans now see US as an ally, as per the survey results.

Major European countries – including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy – all have switched their opinions on the world’s two largest economies.

The poll was conducted from February to May, a period when the United States and Israel were both engaged in conflict with Iran in the Middle East.

Notably, those in some US allied countries have drastically shifted their views in recent years, such as Canada. In the new survey, only 33% of Canadians have positive views of the US, down from 57% in 2023. Over the same period, their favourable opinions of China rose from 14% to 44%.

Trump slapped a raft of tariffs on goods out of Canada in 2025. He also claimed that Canada could be the “the 51st state”.

As for state leaders, people in 22 out of the 36 countries and territories view China’s Xi Jinping in a more favourable than US president Donald Trump, including people from the UK, France, Germany, Canada, and Mexico. Many, however, have low confidence in both men.

In the two decades Pew has been tracking global opinions, this survey is the first time China has come out on top when compared to the US, according to Pew associate director of Global Attitudes Research Laura Silver.

Silver added that views of Beijing and Washington have previously been on par, they have never before flipped – until now.

“There was just an actual relationship between the outbreak of the [Iran] war and the sense that the US is just not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less confidence in Donald Trump,” she said.

Silver said that Trump’s demands to control Greenland, America’s rendition of now-former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and the US handling of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza also have led to his low approval rating in many countries. Aside from benefiting from the fading memory of the Covid-19 pandemic, China appears to have gained from comparison with the US, she added.

“By comparison, we know that China is seen to be a more reliable partner in many places. It’s more likely to be seen to contribute to global peace and stability,” Silver concluded.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said Pew’s latest polling “demonstrates that China’s governance achievements and development progress are widely recognised”.

As for Americans, back in 2023 about 6 in 10 people held positive views of the US. Three years ago, the spread was 32 percentage points in Washington’s favour. Now, China and the US are viewed by Americans similarly.

America has beaten China in another poll, that being said. The US has outranked China on global corruption indexes, with China deemed a more corrupt nation than America. As per the 2025, Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the United States scored 64 out of 100. China scored 43 out of 100 in the same CPI.