PUBLIC perception towards China among Malaysians aged 18 and above has improved, a joint survey by Merdeka Center and Universiti Malaya’s Institute of China Studies found. 

“In the March 2022 survey, 39% of the respondents viewed China favourably compared to 35% of the respondents in a similar survey conducted in July 2016,” Merdeka Center said.

“34 per cent of the respondents viewed China more positively over the last two years, 26% reported more negative perceptions, and 38% were unchanged.”

Of those surveyed, 19% said they have visited China compared to 23% in the 2016 survey.

A majority, 74%, said they have visited China for tourism while 24% said the were there for education purposes, and 1% said they had been there for work or business.

“There was a marked difference among those who had visited China, 70% held positive views on the country while only 6% became more negative, and 21% said the visit did not change their views,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey was conducted between March 17 to 26.

It involved 1,204 respondents aged 18 and above comprising 52% Malay, 26% Chinese, 8% Indian, 8% Muslim Bumiputera and 6% non-Muslim Bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak.

In terms of bilateral ties between the two countries, 70% perceived that Malaysia and China have good ties, while 20% felt that it was not going well.

China also came up tops in the survey when asked which country had helped Malaysia the most during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“China stood out at 50%, followed by United States at 12%, Saudi Arabia at 6%, United Kingdom at 3%, and Japan at 2%”

There is also an overwhelmingly positive response by the respondents towards China’s investments in Malaysia.

Seventy percent of the respondents viewed it positively while 19% viewed it negatively.

“Fourteen percent of the respondents felt Malaysia should participate actively in China’s ‘Belt and Road initiative, 46%  said Malaysia need to approach it carefully, while the remaining 6% said Malaysia should not participate at all.”

In terms of future economic cooperations between Malaysia and China, 51.3% chose the digital economy, 11.2% chose tourism, 8.1% chose production or manufacturing while 6.8% chose vaccine production or research. – May 19, 2022.