Most Russians hold a positive view of neighbouring China, survey finds

Nearly 60 per cent believe the two nations will move closer in the next decade, according to Chicago think tank and Moscow pollster

Results contrast sharply with recent polling suggesting growing anti-China sentiment in the US

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People walk along the frozen Fontanka River in St Petersburg. Four in 10 Russians surveyed said they saw China as the country’s closest friend. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00pm, 12 Mar 2021Updated: 9:00pm, 12 Mar 2021

Most Russians hold a favourable view of China, according to a new survey, in contrast with the growing anti-China sentiment suggested by polling in the United States.

While Beijing and Moscow have drawn closer in recent years, amid worsening relations with Washington, some analysts have warned that Russia risks becoming too reliant on its neighbour.

But the survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Levada Analytical Centre in Moscow found that 74 per cent of respondents saw China favourably.

And nearly 60 per cent believed the two countries would move closer in the next decade, according to the poll results released on Thursday.

The Levada centre interviewed more than 3,200 adults for the study, in urban and rural parts of Russia, in August last year and from late January to early February this year.

While nearly three-quarters of respondents held a favourable view of China, just 45 per cent saw the European Union favourably, and it was 39 per cent for the US.

More than half of those surveyed expressed a positive view of Chinese President Xi Jinping.