Most Americans say China’s international influence has been growing stronger in recent years. Still, Americans tend to say the U.S. – not China – is the world’s top economic and military power.
Americans see China’s global influence getting stronger
A 73% majority of Americans say China’s influence in the world has been getting stronger in recent years. A similar share (71%) held this view in 2024.
About two-in-ten (19%) say China’s influence has stayed about the same, while 6% say it’s getting weaker.
Views by party
Unlike many other opinions related to China, there are no significant differences between Republicans and Democrats on this question. About equal shares in both parties say that China is growing stronger (71% vs. 75%).
Views by age
Americans ages 50 and older are slightly more likely than adults under 50 to say China’s global influence is getting stronger (76% vs. 70%).
Which country is the leading economic power?
About half of Americans (48%) think the U.S. is the world’s leading economic power. Another 38% say it’s China, and smaller shares name Japan (7%) or the EU (6%).
These views are largely unchanged since we last asked this question in 2023, though the share naming the U.S. as the world’s top economic power has been as high as 54% in 2020.
Views by party
The stability of these views overall hides major partisan shifts that have occurred over the past two years.
In 2023, Republicans were about equally likely to describe the U.S. (46%) and China (45%) as the world’s leading economy. Among Republicans, the share naming the U.S. as the top economy has gone up 12 points, while the share naming China has fallen by about the same amount. Today, a clear majority of Republicans (58%) name the U.S. as the world’s top economic power, compared with 32% who name China.
Democrats are now about equally likely to name China (43%) and the U.S. (40%) as the world’s leading economic power. By comparison, 52% of Democrats said the U.S. was the top economy in 2023, and 33% said China.
Views by age
Older Americans are less likely than younger people to say China is the world’s leading economic power. Among those ages 65 and older, 27% name China as the top economy – a much larger share (60%) name the U.S. In comparison, adults under 30 are about equally likely to see China and the U.S. as the world’s top economic power.
Which country is the leading military power?
Most Americans (76%) say the U.S. is the world’s leading military power. Fewer say the top military power is China (14%) or Russia (8%).
Compared with 2022, Americans are more likely to see the U.S. as the world’s leading military power (+6 points), but they are still less likely than they were in 2020 to hold this view.
Views by party
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see the U.S. as the world’s leading military power, though majorities of both parties hold this view (80% and 73%).
This is a reversal from 2022, when Democrats were more likely than Republicans to see the U.S. as the leading military power (75% vs. 67%) and less likely than Republicans to name China (16% vs. 22%).