Reputation of China in Downturn due to Covid-19

A new global Pew Research Center Study was released (October 6) showing increasingly negative views of China. The majority of respondents in the 14 country poll report that Beijing has done a bad job of handling the coronavirus pandemic. Pew Research surveyed 14,276 adults in 14 countries this summer. Included in the country count were the US, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Japan and the UK.

My research over the years has shown that the leader of a company or county is synonymous with the reputation of the company or the nation itself and we see that here in the case of China. Trust in the Chinese President Xi Jinping is poor, with 78% (median) of people surveyed saying they had no confidence in Xi to "do the right thing" in global affairs. Considering that the coronavirus began in Wuhan, China, that should be no surprise.

The US does not get away scot free when it turns to perceptions on handling the virus. When asked to compare how their own country handled the pandemic, the US receives far more unfavorable perceptions relatively. A large 85% say the US handled the COVID-19 outbreak poorly compared to 27% rating their own country. 6 in 10 (61%) say that China handled the outbreak poorly, also significantly lower than the US figure of 85%.

The most unfavorable reviews of China’s COVID-19 response come from three nations in Asia-Pacific. More than 7-in-10 in Japan, South Korea and Australia say China has done a poor job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

China has an image problem that has only worsened over the past year. We will see what 2021 brings and perhaps a new US president, but at the moment they should be in active repair mode. What will be interesting to watch is whether the coronavirus vaccine in current use in China proves to have positive results and leads other nations in the race to find the silver bullet. If China beats other nations with safe and effective results and shares their vaccine broadly with other countries, their reputation could rebound somewhat. The vaccine wars could easily shift the reputation world order overnight.