Survey: More people see China as world's top economy

Published Jun 14, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Jun 14, 2012)

Never mind that the U.S. economy is about twice the size of China's. More people than ever perceive the Asian giant as the world's dominant economic power, according to a new Pew Research Center global survey. As The Los Angeles Times reports, the results are believed to reflect popular opinion that the U.S. and Chinese economies are heading in opposite directions. "The global financial crisis and the steady rise of China have led many to declare China the world's economic leader," says the report, which was released Wednesday and also addressed a series of global opinions on the perception of nations and their leaders. For the first time, respondents around the world picked China as the world's leading economy over the United States, by a margin of 42% to 36%. Asked the same question last year, a median of 41% said the United States is the world's leading economy and only 35% picked China. Even many American respondents to the new survey said they believed China was ahead, with 41% saying China was the leading power and 40% saying the United States. But the majority of Chinese respondents apparently see greener grass in neighboring pastures, with 48% calling the United States the primary economic power and just 29% choosing China. You can check out the complete survey results here.

Today's poll question: Which country do you think is the world's top economic power?