China's Leadership More Popular Globally Than U.S. Counterpart

It’s been a fact since 2017: The Chinese leadership has higher median approval ratings around the world than its U.S. counterpart. While the gap was miniscule in 2017, it widened in the previous year to three percentage points, as reported by Gallup.

The last time the U.S. was this unpopular around the world was during the financial crisis in 2008. But even then, the U.S. leadership’s approval rating was higher than any of those of the current Trump cabinet, which assumed office in early 2017. China has earned high ratings in Africa, where the country has invested large sums in the past decade. Approval ratings in its home region were on par with the median global result of 34 percent and were somewhat lower in Europe and the Americas.

Yet, Mexican citizens, whose country has been at loggerheads with the Trump administration over trade deal NAFTA and the construction of a border wall, also rated China significantly higher in the past year, as did citizens of Venezuela.