Research Background

China and the United States are two pivotal forces in the current international political and economic order. With the deepening of globalization and the accelerated evolution of international order, the direction of China US relations will undoubtedly go beyond the scope of bilateral relations and have a significant impact on the global landscape. In recent years, China's global leadership has continued to strengthen. The proposal of the "the Belt and Road" initiative and the construction of a community of shared future for mankind have shown the people of the world the national image of China with its own characteristics. In 2019, Gallup, a consulting firm in the United States, released survey data, in which respondents from 133 countries around the world expressed their views on the level of recognition of the world leadership positions of countries such as the United States, China, Germany, and Russia. The survey results showed that China ranked second only to Germany, with a support rate of 34%, the highest proportion in a decade; The United States ranks fourth with a support rate of 31%, indicating a sharp decline in its overseas image. The report suggests that China's leadership position has gained greater advantages in the competition among major powers.

As the only superpower in the world today, the adjustment of the United States' domestic and foreign policies, especially its global strategy, is bound to have an undeniable impact on major power relations, the global economy, and even the world order. Against the backdrop of rapid changes in power between China and the United States, the US policy towards China is also undergoing changes. Since President Trump took office, influenced by the wave of populism in China, the strategic game between China and the United States has comprehensively unfolded in areas such as economy, politics, and security. On March 22, 2018, Trump signed a presidential memorandum stating that based on the results of the "301 investigation," he would impose large-scale tariffs on goods imported from China and restrict Chinese companies from investing and acquiring in the United States, causing trade frictions between China and the United States; In the first half of 2020, the COVID-19 spread around the world. Some politicians and media in the United States deliberately spread the topic of "tarnishing China" with the help of the epidemic. The United States has taken strict precautions and made every effort to suppress China, breaking the long-standing model of competition and cooperation between China and the United States.

The relationship between China and the United States is one of China's most important foreign relations, and under the Trump administration, the relationship is at a rapidly changing "critical juncture". The Chinese public's understanding and perception of the United States is of great significance for the development and future direction of Sino US relations. Under the increasingly open social structure of China, the domestic public is paying more and more attention to international current affairs and global affairs. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "in the current world of profound and complex changes, with unprecedentedly close connections and interactions between China and the world, we must closely monitor the development and changes of the international situation, coordinate the domestic and international situations, and seize the initiative and win development in the trend of the times." Faced with various changes in the external environment in the new era, how can the Chinese public understand the image of the United States? This report attempts to present the Chinese public's views on the United States and their understanding of the current cultural exchanges between the two countries from different perspectives, in order to provide empirical basis for understanding the public opinion foundation of current Sino US relations and formulating reasonable external communication strategies.

Two research designs

National image is a comprehensive reflection of the public's impression, perception, and evaluation of a country. Therefore, an individual's perception of a country's image depends on multiple factors. Firstly, this article examines the basic understanding of the Chinese public towards the United States and its relationship with the United States, including the national strength of both countries, the global influence of the United States, and the positioning of its relationship with the United States. Secondly, we investigated the Chinese people's perception of Sino US cultural exchanges, that is, their impression of the United States, their interest in the United States, and their exposure to American society and culture. Finally, we discussed the views and attitudes of the Chinese public towards different hot topics related to the United States and Sino US relations.

The data for this report is sourced from the Global Public Opinion Index (2020) of the National Institute of Communication Strategy at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The survey was conducted online, targeting adult internet users across China, and was carried out by Beijing Zero Index Information Consulting Co., Ltd. The company's online survey sample library has over 5 million registered users. The sample library is managed uniquely by verifying IP addresses and phone numbers to avoid duplicate registrations by the same user. After completing the user registration, they need to fill in 27 personal basic information in detail, including age, gender, city, and education level. During the investigation process, the executing personnel sampled the sample library according to the age, gender, educational background, and other requirements of the project, and then invited the sample users. Invitation methods include sending emails, etc. Based on the survey data provided by the respondents, the execution personnel will evaluate the integrity of their answers and conduct quality control through comparison of registration information and verification of response time, in order to ensure the validity of the sample.

A total of 4973 respondents were invited to the survey, and 2501 samples were officially answered and effectively collected. The specific information is shown in Table 1.

表1 本研究受访者的样本数据结构

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Table 1 Sample Data Structure of Respondents in This Study

Three investigation results

The survey results mainly include three parts: Chinese respondents' basic understanding of the United States, their understanding of social and cultural exchanges, and their understanding of hot topics. Firstly, basic understanding involves the level of understanding of American politics, economy, military, technology, and the evaluation of the nature of Sino US relations. Secondly, social and cultural exchange cognition is based on specific backgrounds, the feelings of respondents in cultural exchanges between the two countries, and their own attitudes towards cultural output. Finally, by understanding the respondents' responses to hot topics, a more objective image of the United States can be outlined.

（1） Basic understanding of the United States and Sino US relations among the Chinese public

China and the United States have always had smooth exchanges, and since Trump took office in 2016, there have been many controversies between the two countries. So what is the Chinese perception of the United States now? What are the channels for Chinese people to know about the United States? What label does the United States have in their hearts? Based on this, this article first uses open-ended questions to ask the respondents: (1) Which countries do you think play an important role in international affairs? (2) Which countries do you think have developed economies? (3) Which countries do you think have strong military forces? (4) Which countries do you think have advanced technology? According to the answer to the above question, if the interviewee mentions the United States, it indicates that they believe that the United States has strong capabilities in various aspects. Secondly, in the impression of the respondents, what is the overall strength comparison between China and the United States? The answer to this question, which is "China has surpassed the United States, China will surpass the United States, China will not surpass the United States, cannot be explained clearly," also reflects the respondents' basic understanding of the current comprehensive national strength of the United States.

Data shows that 75.4% of respondents believe that the United States has strong international influence, ranking second only to China. In the eyes of 77.4% of Chinese people, the economy of the United States is developed on a par with that of China, and far exceeds that of Germany, Russia and Japan. In terms of military strength, 70.6% of respondents believe that the United States has a strong military force, ranking second, followed closely by Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The United States has advanced technology and ranks first, followed closely by China (see Table 2). In the comparison of comprehensive strength between China and the United States, 31.1% of respondents believe that China's political system has surpassed that of the United States, and more than 50% of the public believe that China will surpass the United States in terms of economic strength, military power, and technological level (see Table 3).

The gap between China and the United States is narrowing day by day, and this positive development trend gives the Chinese public more confidence. The survey results show that in the eyes of Chinese people, the United States is a country with strong comprehensive strength, has the image of a leading power, slightly stronger than China in science and technology, and China plays a powerful role in international influence, economy, and military. Meanwhile, almost half of the respondents believe that Russia's military and international influence cannot be ignored.

表2 中国公众心中的美国现状

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Table 2 Current situation of the United States in the minds of the Chinese public

表3 中国公众心中的中美政治/经济/军事/科技对比

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Table 3: Political/Economic/Military/Technological Comparisons between China and the United States in the Eyes of the Chinese Public

On the basis of judging the national strength of the two countries, how does the Chinese public evaluate the status of China US relations on the world stage? According to the survey results, over 90% of respondents tend to recognize the importance of China US relations to the world order, with 50.9% of respondents considering it "very important", and only 3.9% of respondents considering the importance of China US relations to the world order to be low (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Impact of China US Relations on the World Pattern in the Eyes of the Chinese Public

So, how does the Chinese public evaluate the nature of China US relations? As shown in Figure 2, we divide it into competition, competition and partnership, and partnership, and include Japan, Russia, and Germany in the horizontal comparison category. From Figure 2, it can be seen that 41.5% of respondents believe that China and the United States are in a competitive relationship, 34.4% of respondents believe that competition and partnership coexist between China and the United States, and only 13.2% of respondents believe that China and the United States are in a partnership relationship. In addition, 34.7% of respondents chose Japan when mentioning China's competitors (i.e. competitive relationships), while only 4.6% chose Russia. Many respondents view China and Germany as a combination of competition and partnership. In contrast, respondents are more friendly towards Russia, while the United States and Japan are seen more as competitors to China.

Since President Trump took office, the relationship between China and the United States has undergone rapid changes, which have had a significant impact on the international order. Against this backdrop, the Chinese public is increasingly concerned about the future direction of China US relations. Data shows that 80.3% of respondents believe that "the impact of bilateral relations on the world is increasing," 73.1% of respondents believe that "the possibility of economic and trade frictions between the two countries is increasing," and only 4.3% of respondents hold a negative attitude. This indicates that the Trump administration's economic and trade boycott of China has greatly reduced the current trust of the Chinese public in the United States. Meanwhile, 59.5% of the respondents believe that the two countries' economies are becoming increasingly dependent, and 68.6% of the respondents agree with the view that cultural exchanges between the two countries will become more frequent in the future. It can be seen that the Chinese public has diverse views on the development trends of Sino US relations in different fields (see Figure 3). When it comes to the country that poses the greatest threat to China's development, 76.4% of respondents chose the United States, and 11.0% believe that Japan also poses a threat. These data are in line with the current international situation, indicating that the Chinese public has a clear positioning and understanding of Sino US relations, and can also recognize the problems faced by China's diplomacy in the process of globalization (see Figure 4).

Figure 2: The relationship between the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, and China in the eyes of the Chinese public

Figure 3 Chinese public's judgment on the future development trend of the United States and Sino US relations

Figure 4: Countries that pose the greatest threat to China as assessed by the Chinese public

In addition, when comparing the comprehensive evaluation of China and the United States by the Chinese public, over 60% of respondents believe that the two countries are "military powers", with significant differences in other aspects. 74.9% of the respondents believe that China is a "responsible country". In their eyes, China is still a "rapidly growing economy country" (74.8%), a "democratic and civilized country" (64.9%), and a "modernized country" (64.9%). In contrast, the most prominent feature of the United States is its "hegemonic power", with 72.2% of respondents rating it as such. 51.0% of the respondents believe that the United States is a problematic country with significant issues such as corruption, racial conflicts, and wealth disparity. Additionally, nearly 50% of the respondents highly recognize the United States as a "modern country". In the eyes of the vast majority of respondents, the United States has not actively taken on the responsibility of a major power, with only 21.5% of respondents considering it a "responsible country" (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 Comprehensive evaluation of China and the United States by the Chinese public

In summary, research data shows that the Chinese public believes that there is a significant difference in the comprehensive strength between China and the United States. This is partly due to the public's confidence in China's current development trends, and also reflects the impact of the United States' policy shift towards China. The Trump administration has always regarded China as its' core threat '. On June 1, 2019, the US Department of Defense released its first Indo Pacific Strategy Report, which stated that "strategic competition between nations, namely geopolitical competition between visions of a free and repressive world order, is the primary concern for US national security. Trump's repeated targeting of China has increased public dissatisfaction in China.

（2） Chinese public's perception of social and cultural exchanges between China and the United States

On May 28, 2020, Premier Li Keqiang stated at a press conference that "the relationship between China and the United States has gone through ups and downs over the past few decades. On the one hand, cooperation has progressed, but on the other hand, it has been stumbling and stumbling, which is indeed very complex. In recent years, the relationship between China and the United States has been a topic of global concern. China's rapid development is shaking the United States' position as the world hegemon, and tensions and frictions between China and the United States continue to arise. At the same time, social and cultural exchanges between China and the United States remain hot, with a large number of personnel coming and going every year. So how does the Chinese public view the social and cultural exchanges between China and the United States? What is their overall impression of American society? How do you feel after experiencing American culture in person? How to evaluate the impact of American cultural exports on oneself?

To further understand the overall impression of the United States by the Chinese public and their comprehensive understanding of both China and the United States, we use a scale of 1 point (very poor) to 10 points (very good) to ask respondents to rate their overall impression of the United States. The data shows that 47.1% of respondents scored below the average (6.2 points), with 15.0%, 17.4%, and 12.6% of respondents scoring 7, 8, and 9 points, respectively. It can be seen that the Chinese public has a relatively low impression and negative evaluation of the United States (see Table 4). In addition, national leaders have important symbolic significance for the image of the country. When asked about their impression of US President Trump, respondents gave mixed evaluations, but based on an average score of 5.8, Trump's image in the minds of the Chinese public is poor. 11.9% of respondents rated him as 1 (very poor), while only 5.2% rated him as 10 (very good), and nearly 40% of respondents rated him below the average score (see Table 5).

表4 中国公众对美国的整体印象打分

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Table 4 Overall Impression Score of the Chinese Public towards the United States

表5 中国公众对美国总统特朗普的印象打分

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Table 5 Chinese public's impression rating of US President Trump

As China approaches the center stage of the world, the cultural soft power of China and the United States has also been endowed with new connotations of the times. In order to better understand the respondents' basic understanding of Chinese and American culture, the research is based on the current situation and raises the following questions: (1) Apart from China, which country are you most interested in what is happening in? (2) What countries or regions have you been to before? (3) Have you watched any American movies or TV shows? If the interviewee has been to the United States or watched American movies and TV shows, it indicates that they have had firsthand experience and have a more objective understanding of American culture. According to data, 57.5% of respondents are interested in the United States, followed closely by Russia, Japan, and South Korea. Among the countries that the Chinese public has visited, South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Singapore rank among the top four, with respondents who have visited the United States, Japan, and South Korea accounting for 13.0% or more. When it comes to whether the Chinese public has watched American movies and TV shows, over 80% of respondents said they would watch them, with 23.8% and 13.3% choosing the "more" and "many" options respectively (see Figures 6, 7, and 8).

As the center of multiculturalism, the United States is the focus of attention for people around the world, and it has become the norm for Chinese citizens to live or study in the United States. Data shows that in the eyes of Chinese people, the United States is an attractive cultural power. Respondents' attention to the United States continues to grow, and American film and television culture is also popular with the public.

Figure 6: Countries of Most Interest to the Chinese Public

Figure 7: Countries visited by the Chinese public

Figure 8: The situation of Chinese public watching American movies and TV dramas

（3） Chinese public's perception of hot topics between China and the United States

In recent years, the shift in US foreign policy has led to some controversial issues in the international community. The ups and downs of the relationship between China and the United States often revolve around specific core topics or events. So, how does the Chinese public perceive different issues related to American society? We have selected some content with discussion value to present the Chinese public's views and evaluations of the United States.

The United Nations, as an organization that maintains world peace and security, has five permanent members. During the 2019 United Nations General Assembly, the Russian diplomatic delegation was denied a visa by the United States, prompting Russia and Iran to submit a proposal to the United Nations to withdraw some UN agencies from the United States. According to Voice of America, on November 8, 2019, the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly voted on the UN relocation proposal put forward by Russia. 18 countries voted in favor, 69 countries voted against, and 72 countries abstained, resulting in the proposal not being passed. This article focuses on this incident and investigates the attitude of the Chinese public through the question "Do you agree with the suggestion of many countries to evacuate the United Nations headquarters from the United States. The results showed that the opinions of the respondents were relatively unified, with nearly 70% of the respondents agreeing to the withdrawal of the United Nations headquarters from the United States, only 5.6% disagreeing, and about 25% of the respondents having unclear opinions.

In summary, the Chinese public has a clear understanding of China's basic perception, while their perception of the friendliness towards the United States presents a rather contradictory attitude. From their own perspective, most of the public is interested in the United States, but the United States is in a competitive relationship with China, obstructing China's peaceful rise and interfering in the development of other countries. In the perspective of a major power, the United States is not a very friendly country.

Since 2016, the United States has unilaterally provoked trade frictions, bringing unprecedented uncertainty to the development prospects of China US economic and trade relations. Among them, the containment strategy against technology company Huawei is a landmark and important issue in the China US trade friction. This article asks respondents how they view the various sanctions imposed by the United States on Huawei from four dimensions: the impact on high-tech industries in the United States, technological innovation in China, trade frictions between China and the United States, and the 5G technology dispute. Data shows that the majority of respondents believe that the severe crackdown on Huawei by the United States is not conducive to the development of high-tech industries in the United States, and they have confidence in China's technological development. About 63.5% of respondents believe that this will "accelerate the pace of China's technological innovation". At the same time, the Chinese public generally believes that the US crackdown on Huawei is based on considerations of US national interests and is aware of the real contradictions between China and the United States in global competition. Nearly 60% of the respondents admitted that the Huawei incident is "beneficial for the United States to gain bargaining chips in Sino US trade negotiations" and "beneficial for the United States to seize the initiative in the 5G technology competition".

Four Discussions and Suggestions

By observing the various perceptions and feelings of the Chinese public towards the United States, this study constructs the image of the United States in the eyes of the Chinese public. Nowadays, with the continuous expansion of globalization, the Chinese public's concept of a great power and international perspective have become increasingly important. Since President Trump took office, there has been a significant shift in the US strategy towards China, which is not only the result of a sharp change in the situation between China and the US, but also carries a distinct personal color of Trump. In this context, understanding the attitudes and perceptions of the Chinese public towards the United States is an important basis for grasping the relationship between China and the United States. Based on the data survey in the previous text, the Chinese public's attitude towards the United States is negative and cautious. This self judgment and evaluation to some extent affect the construction of diplomatic relations between major powers. This article attempts to further explore the influencing factors of the Chinese public's perception of the image of the United States and reflect on the future way of China US relations and more possibilities for China's external image dissemination.

Based on the public's cognition, there exists a trend of fluidity and novelty, and the proposition of image cognition belongs to a free and open pluralistic system. Therefore, the Chinese public's perception of the image of the United States depends on many factors. Firstly, the transformation of Sino US relations and changes in the international situation. The construction and presentation of any country's image are influenced and constrained by the overall international situation. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China's comprehensive national strength and international discourse power have significantly improved. It has not only opened up a diplomatic path with Chinese characteristics, but also led the world to progress together under the principle of consultation, co construction and sharing. At this time, the United States was deeply influenced by anti globalization populism and political extremism, and identified China as its main rival in its national security strategy, attempting to contain China's peaceful rise. This directly leads to the Chinese public's perception of this competition and game image. Secondly, the construction of media image. As an important force in social information dissemination, modern news media has an undeniable connection with international relations. For the majority of the Chinese public, media is an important channel for them to obtain international information and form awareness of other countries. Especially with the current proliferation of social media, for example, a survey conducted among Trump fans at the end of 2016 showed that up to 92% of Trump fans do not even read other traditional mainstream media. Even if they occasionally read The New York Times or CNN, they will never believe the statements on these media. Trump has turned American politics and serious political discussions into reality shows that maximize his personal brand. It can be seen that the media plays a key role in constructing Trump's image. Thirdly, the choice of individual cognitive framework. Those who are more concerned about Sino US relations or have a higher level of education have a more rational and clear understanding of the current world economic and political situation, and are not easily influenced by narrow nationalism.

The national image is not only a presentation of comprehensive strength and influence, but also includes people's acceptance, cognition, and imagination of specific national cultures and social interactions. For a long time, the relationship between China and the United States has held a special position in the dissemination of China's foreign relations. The construction of national image and the public's perception of other countries are also regarded as important reference coordinates for international communication capacity building. Based on the current image of the United States in the eyes of the Chinese public, we can further explore its practical implications for the dissemination of China's national image.

（1） Based on the new pattern of global governance, enhance the subject consciousness of telling the image of China

China's international influence continues to strengthen, with increasing political, economic, and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. The world's understanding of China is showing a positive and constructive trend. At the same time, some Western countries attempt to smear and distort China's image with the "China threat theory", which greatly affects the establishment of mutual trust and cooperation mechanisms between China and other countries, and also restricts the effective development space of China's diplomatic activities. To this end, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of "showcasing China's image" at the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work, which is to promote the construction of international communication capabilities and showcase the real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China to the world. The growth of China's economy and society is not only reflected in its great contribution to the sluggish world economy after the financial crisis, but also in its highly responsible attitude to participate in global climate governance and the resolution of denuclearization issues, propose the "the Belt and Road" initiative, advocate the joint construction of the Asian Investment Bank, and provide Chinese solutions for building a new global governance system. The data from this study shows that the Chinese public has also begun to emphasize China's responsible image as a major power. Therefore, China needs to continue to strengthen its three-dimensional image positioning in "self shaping" and "other shaping", and enhance the world's comprehensive understanding of China. From the current situation, China has not received the evaluation commensurate with its own enterprising efforts and achievements. There is a huge gap between the Chinese people's perception of its own country and the foreigners' perception of it. Compared with the communication power of the United States, China's international image is often passive in external communication, lacking the awareness of actively creating topics. Therefore, telling a good Chinese story requires taking the initiative to speak out and strengthening impressions through mutual interaction.

（2） Establish a diverse and open cross-cultural communication platform, and create a mutually integrated dialogue system

In the cognitive evaluation of the image of the United States, most respondents stated that the United States is a very attractive country, which reflects the key role of national image in shaping cultural exchanges. In fact, under the protection of military, economic, and political forces, the United States fully utilizes popular culture, including the Hollywood film industry, to spread its image. Since the 1990s, neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea have also used national efforts to promote the development and dissemination of cultural forms such as animation and film, effectively enhancing their national image and allowing young people in neighboring countries to have a deeper understanding of Japanese and Korean culture. Therefore, to strengthen external exchanges and dissemination, it is necessary to actively convey the charm of Chinese culture, excavate, discover, and extract vivid materials that touch overseas audiences from people's daily lives, and organize, innovate, and promote them. It is worth noting that Chinese culture is not equivalent to traditional culture. To tell the story of Chinese culture well, it is not only necessary to express "de westernization" from the perspectives of discourse, logic, and knowledge, but also to adhere to the core of traditional Chinese history and culture, avoid excessive dissemination of Chinese traditional history and its representative elements, and pay attention to the promotion of modern Chinese social life, such as focusing on topics such as poverty alleviation, the rejuvenation of the Chinese Dream, and the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society, gathering Chinese ideas and characteristic concepts, promoting cooperation between different civilizations, and paying attention to the diverse value patterns and systems of cross-cultural dialogue.

（3） Pay attention to the dissemination of political figures' images and establish an external interaction mechanism with policy agenda influence

The image of political figures is like a national business card, which is of great significance for showcasing national strength and enhancing national influence. The data from this study shows that in recent years, the governing style of the Trump administration has to some extent lowered the expectations of the Chinese public for the image of the United States, and has become an explicit indicator for people to judge the fluctuations of the United States' global influence. We should actively utilize mainstream media and integrated media resources, using the image of political figures as a "personalized" medium, and continue to tell the story of China well on domestic and foreign media platforms through friendly narratives, showcasing China's great power style and profound cultural heritage, and conveying the voice of China. At the same time, this study also found that people often associate politicians with their governing policies. Some influential established policies also have a significant impact on people's impressions and judgments of other countries. External communication should take a broader perspective and be based on the national external communication strategy, especially focusing on China's favorable policies released in the global economic growth and injecting vitality into economic globalization through the "the Belt and Road" initiative, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), etc., grasp the voice in the international public opinion pattern, enhance the creativity, appeal and credibility of external communication through effective policy issues, and make the practice of foreign policy issues an effective platform for shaping a good national image.

（4） Actively expanding channels for people to people diplomacy, strengthening advocacy, publicity, and practice of the Chinese plan for a "community with a shared future for mankind"

In the era of rapid globalization, the fate of humanity has never been as closely interconnected as it is today. This means that external communication is no longer just a reflection of a country's cultural soft power and discourse power, but also influenced by the joint dialogue of multiple international participants. As presented in the survey data of this study, the Chinese public has a strong feeling towards the policies led by the Trump administration, such as unilateralism, protectionism, and prioritizing American interests. The United States' withdrawal from the international community is in stark contrast to China's contribution of global governance wisdom of "consultation, co construction, and sharing". In recent years, the Chinese public has become increasingly concerned about international hot topics and has gradually become an important participant in political communication in the new era. In the process of building a national image communication strategy, it is necessary to further incorporate international forces and establish good relationships with the international community through multi-party interactions. At the same time, we will actively engage in people to people diplomacy with neighboring countries, focusing on cooperation in the field of livelihood and economy, and particularly strengthening assistance to impoverished areas and vulnerable groups. By adhering to the path of cooperation and opening up, and continuously promoting multilateral friendly dialogue, ordinary people in other countries can truly feel the welfare and warmth that China's economic development brings to their societies, thus vividly and stereoscopically reflecting the great power style.

Overall, the construction of a country's image is a constantly evolving process from point to surface. Telling the story of China well and spreading the voice of China requires the joint efforts of multiple stakeholders, as well as learning from the experiences and lessons of other countries. Observing the Chinese public's perception and views on the image of the United States in recent years can help us use other countries' experiences as a reference and rethink our own external communication path. We should realize that although China and the United States are currently at a disturbing historical turning point due to profound conflicts of interest, their societies can still play a good buffering role in this process. Reflecting on people's views and ideas on the national image of the United States in the new era will help us reconsider China's experience in building the national image, spread the image of China in peaceful development, and enhance mutual trust between the people of China and the United States, thus promoting the development of China US relations in the direction of coordination, cooperation and stability.