Record-low 15% of Americans hold favorable view of China amid heightened tensions

Americans' views on China are at a record-low, with 15% viewing the communist-run country favorably and 84% unfavorably, according to a poll released Tuesday. 

Just 4% of Americans view China as "very favorable," while 45% view the country as "very unfavorable," according to a new Gallup poll.

The percentage of Americans overall who view China favorability decreased five points from last year, while those who view China unfavorably increased by five points.

Democrats are three times more likely to view China positively than Republicans at 18% to 6%.

The poll was conducted from Feb. 1-23 with 1,008 U.S. adults and it has a 4% margin of error.

Americans' views on China have been worsening since 2018, when 53% of Gallup respondents saw the country favorably. Factors causing U.S. opinion of China to decrease include the COVID-19 pandemic, which the U.S. government now says likely came from a lab in Wuhan, and, more recently, a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down after traversing the United States.