Poll: French optimistic on relations with China

Majority of people recognize Beijing's strong development in several fields

A majority of French think China will become the strongest country in the world by 2050 and the relations between China and France will be characterized as both partners and competitors, a survey of French public opinion finds.

The survey "China and the World in the Eyes of French" was conducted by researchers from the Institute of National Communication Strategy at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and published ahead of the three-day state visit of France's President Emmanuel Macron to China starting from Wednesday.

It collected 1,087 valid online questionnaires from French participants to examine the basic features of the French public's "perception of the world" from four aspects - perceptions of major international powers, China, Europe, and Asia.

In today's multipolar world, the United States is still in the leading position in several aspects of development. While 74.6 percent of the participants of the survey see the US as the No 1 power in the world, about 40 percent of the respondents predict China to be the strongest country in the world in 2050, followed by the US, France, and Japan.

More than 30 percent of respondents believe that China's technology will be better than that of the US, and more than two-fifths of respondents believe that China's economic development is expected to surpass that of the US. In addition, more than one-fifth of respondents believe that China's political, military, and cultural development will surpass that of the US.

"French respondents generally recognized China's strong development in the political, economic, scientific and technological, military and cultural fields," the study said. "With the upcoming 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, ... the French public's perception of the relationship will help us to navigate the future direction of Sino-French relations."

Cultural symbols

About 20 percent of the respondents think China and France are partners, 18 percent think the two countries are in competition, and 35 percent people think both cooperation and competition exist. More than 50 percent of the respondents regard China as an economic giant and 39.8 percent think China is a major military power.

In terms of Chinese culture, the Great Wall, the giant panda, the Chinese Spring Festival, Chinese food, and Chinese tea are among the top five cultural symbols that French participants associate with China, and about 6.8 percent of the surveyees have been to China.

Lu Shaye, Chinese ambassador to France, noted in a recent interview with Nouvelles d'Europe newspaper that China and France are both countries with long civilizations, representing the East and West, and people-to-people direct communication will promote mutual understanding.

"Next year will be the China-France year of culture and tourism and Paris will be holding the Olympics, related departments in both countries are making plans for a series of cultural and sports events to create a good environment for the further development of bilateral relations," he said.

Nearly 80 percent of the survey's participants expressed their willingness to travel to China for tourism while around 14.3 percent and 10.7 percent wanted to come to China for business and education.

As more Chinese companies are going global, Chinese brands and products also contribute to China's image in French eyes. In recent years, China's internet and e-commerce companies are becoming more and more influential around the world and the survey finds that the top Chinese brands recognized by the French are Huawei, TikTok, Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Shein.

The quality of diligence shown by the Chinese, probably through the more than 400,000 ethnic Chinese living and working in France, has left a deep impression on the French - 56.6 percent of respondents agreeing with the description "Chinese people are very dedicated to work".

Other characteristics of the Chinese in French eyes are a strong sense of patriotism, the fear of losing face, as well as their friendliness and honesty.