Research reveals Chinese views of the EU

PA 67/11 Chinese people think much more favourably about the European Union than the United States or Japan, according to a scientific survey of 3,000 urban residents across six cities in China. Just over half, 55 per cent, said they liked European ideas about democracy, the survey showed. Despite this high score for the EU, only 42 per cent of respondents thought current China-EU relations were good, although a similar number, 46 per cent, were cautiously optimistic about improved future relations. Soccer, cars and fashion are the top three things about Europe that Chinese people are most interested in, according to the survey, an EU research project led by the China Policy Institute at The University of Nottingham, which was carried out by scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Beijing's Renmin University, working with partners from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. When Chinese people think about European historical figures, the top three that spring to mind are Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin, according to the survey, with Karl Marx ranking only fourth. The survey was funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework research support programme. Asked for which countries or regions they held a favourable impression, 74 per cent said the European Union and 74 per cent Russia, compared with 60 per cent for the US and only 38 per cent Japan.