Experts attribute the changing mood to fading memories of the coronavirus pandemic, awareness of China’s tech innovations and disaffection with President Trump’s trade wars. Sept. 23, 2026 Updated 4:00 p.m. ET

President Trump’s shift to a friendlier stance on China mirrors a startling change in public opinion. Across the political spectrum, more Americans are seeing China in a positive light. Surveys from leading pollsters, including two released this week, show that China’s image in the United States has improved markedly in recent years. People are still skeptical about China, but as Mr. Trump prepares to give the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, a warm welcome in Washington this week, his accommodation echoes what some experts see as a desire among Americans for a more stable relationship with Beijing.

“There really is this warming toward China, even if on balance views still remain fairly negative,” said Laura Silver, an associate director at the Pew Research Center, which published survey data on Wednesday showing that 54 percent of Americans now have a “cold” view of China, compared with 68 percent in 2021. The surveys do not pinpoint the reasons for the shift, which appears to be more pronounced among younger Americans. But experts point to fading memories of the coronavirus pandemic, awareness of China’s tech innovations and disaffection with Mr. Trump’s trade wars as contributing to a changing mood that could affect how U.S. politicians approach China.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has picked up a reversal over just the last two years. By 2024, the share of Americans who favored “friendly cooperation and engagement with China” had declined to just 40 percent. But when the organization asked the question again this July, that number had risen to 57 percent, including 68 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans, according to data published this week. “The attitudes toward China have been really surprising,” said Dina Smeltz, a former State Department official who oversees the Chicago Council’s polling. “They’ve shifted from a majority wanting to limit the rise of China and limit its influence to now a majority of Americans wanting to engage cooperatively with China.”