Reports

China tops Japan in US poll on key ties

(Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-02 11:40

China overtook Japan as the most important partner for the United States in Asia for the first time since 1985, reflecting the country's increasing economic weight, Japan’s Kyodo News reported, quoting a survey released Tuesday by Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

According to Kyodo News, the US survey commissioned to Gallup in February and March showed that among US opinion leaders, 56 percent said China is the most important, and 36 percent named Japan, while the poll of some 1,200 people 18 and older among the general public put both countries at 44 percent.

The survey also cited reasons the opinion leaders chose China or Japan as the most important U.S. partner in Asia: “Economic ties and US-bound investment topped the list for both countries, while they cited the size of national land and population for China and the alliance and friendship for Japan as the second-most common reason.”