By He Yin, People’s Daily
Recent surveys by multiple international polling agencies show that global public opinion toward China continues to improve, with the country’s image gaining wider recognition around the world.
This growing recognition reflects China’s commitment to “doing the right thing” and demonstrates the international community’s affirmation of China’s development path. Such acknowledgment stems from China’s confidence in pursuing openness and international engagement.
“Friendly, secure, and efficient,” wrote a journalist from Argentine newspaper Clarin after a recent stay in China. Over the years, China has steadily advanced high-level opening up and streamlined policies to facilitate people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
So far, China has introduced unilateral visa-free entry and mutual visa exemption agreements with 75 countries, and expanded the number of countries eligible for visa-free transit to 55 countries. In the first half of this year, foreign nationals made 38.05 million cross-border trips to and from China in the first half of 2025, up 30.2 percent year on year, accounting for 71.2 percent of total foreign entries and representing a 53.9 percent year-on-year increase.
International audiences are increasingly experiencing China firsthand through growing visitation. These encounters reveal a multifaceted nation whose authentic reality travelers actively share through global social platforms. At the same time, Chinese cultural products, whether trendy toys, blockbuster films, or hit video games, are winning fans worldwide. With their unique blend of warmth and creativity, they bring people closer together, spark emotions that transcend borders, and write new chapters in cross-cultural exchanges.
Recognition also comes from China’s genuine commitment to sharing the benefits of development.
The facts speak for themselves: China’s contribution to world economic growth has stayed at around 30 percent over the years. In 2024, China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP was 11.6 percent lower than in 2020 – equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.1 billion tonnes. The country has remained the world’s largest manufacturing country for 15 consecutive years.
Recent briefings on the 14th Five-Year Plan implementation further confirm that China’s high-quality development paradigm energizes worldwide economic expansion, creating vast opportunities for modernization worldwide.
China fundamentally integrates its development within humanity’s broader progress and seeks to move forward together with others toward shared prosperity. Today, China is a major trading partner of over 150 countries and regions. High-quality Belt and Road cooperation has become a path of opportunity and well-being that is increasingly felt by people across the globe.
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, across the nine middle-income countries surveyed, a 72 percent median say Chinese companies are good for their country’s economy. This result demonstrates that cooperation with China delivers real, tangible benefits that improve people’s lives.
Recognition further arises from China’s sense of proactive role in global governance. As noted by Australian media, China increasingly engages as a stabilizing force in a fragmented world. It has promoted peaceful solutions to international hotspot issues and encouraged dialogue on the Ukraine crisis, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the situation in Afghanistan, while also helping to broker reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as among Palestinian factions.
Looking ahead, China has pledged to announce its 2035 nationally determined contributions covering all economic sectors and all greenhouse gases before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil. It has released the Global AI Governance Action Plan, established a global AI governance innovation center, and proposed the creation of a world AI cooperation organization. Together with 32 other countries, China also launched the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), filling a gap in global mediation mechanisms.
In a world of uncertainty and change, China has kept humanity’s future and people’s well-being at heart, demonstrating the responsibility expected of a major country. As one commentary observed, “China always focuses on doing the right thing.” The rise of China’s global standing is the outcome of decades of careful planning, peaceful development, sincere cooperation, and cultural confidence.
By remaining committed to “doing the right thing,” China will continue to engage the world with openness and inclusiveness, advance on the winds of win-win cooperation, and present itself as a nation that is trustworthy, admirable, and respectable, sharing opportunities for development with all countries and working together for a better future.
