Lujiazui Photo: VCG

　　A new poll by the Pew Research Center, released on Wednesday, showed that China is now viewed more positively than the US in many countries around the world, marking the first time the organization has recorded such results in the roughly 20 years Pew has been tracking global opinions.

　　A Chinese expert said on Thursday that compared with the US, China has long upheld a steady foreign policy characterized by openness and friendly engagement through a wide range of cross-border cooperation projects that deliver shared benefits to all participating sides, which arguably stands as the core reason behind the rising global favorability toward China.

　　According to the official website of Pew Research Center, the latest results are based on surveys of 42,151 adults conducted from February 8 to May 13. In most of the 36 countries surveyed, more people have a favorable view of China than of the US.

　　Countries that now view China more positively than the US include longtime US allies such as Britain, Canada, France and Germany. People in all four viewed the US more favorably than or just as favorably as China last year, the Washington Post reported, citing Pew’s data.

　　The US is viewed more positively than China in just six countries, including four in the Asia-Pacific region: India, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea, the center’s data showed.

　　It marks the first time in the roughly 20 years Pew has been tracking global opinions that China has been viewed more positively than the US, said Laura Silver, associate director of Pew’s Global Attitudes Research and one of the researchers on the study, AP reported. “Some of the views that we see of the US are at or near historic lows,” said Silver, as reported by the Washington Post.