Global Government Trust Survey: China rises, the United States falls

A global survey found that under the epidemic, with people's general pessimism about the economy, the public's trust in the governments of western countries such as the United States has dropped to a new low. At the same time, the survey shows that the Chinese people's trust in the government has shown a clear upward trend.

The survey, titled "Edelman Trust Barometer," is the 22nd year that Edelman International Public Relations has released the survey. The company surveyed more than 36,000 people in 28 countries from November 1 to 24 last year and produced a composite trust index by assessing people's trust in the country's government, media, businesses and NGOs. The largest decline in the Trust Composite index last year was in Germany, where trust fell by 7 percentage points to 46 percent. In addition, the composite index of trust in Australia and the Netherlands both fell by 6 percentage points to 53% and 57% respectively, and the figures of South Korea and the United States both fell by 5 percentage points to 42% and 43%, respectively.

In contrast, China's trust composite index was as high as 83%, up 11 percentage points year-on-year. The survey results show that the gap between the Composite Index of Trust between China and the United States has reached its maximum since the survey began. On a case-by-case basis, last year, the Chinese people's trust in the government rose by 9% from the previous year to 91%, the highest level in a decade, while the American people's trust in the government fell by 3% to 39%.

Reuters reported on the 18th that the survey also found that although the world's richest countries spent trillions of dollars to support their economies during the epidemic, such measures failed to inject lasting confidence into their people. In Japan, only 15 percent of people think they and their families will be better off within five years, compared with most in other Western countries between 20 percent and 40 percent. But in China, nearly two-thirds of respondents remain optimistic about the economic outlook, with 80% of Indians believing they will be better off in 5 years.

Richard Edelman, global president of Edelman International Public Relations, said that the higher level of public trust in China is not only related to economic feelings, but also to the more predictable Nature of Chinese policies, especially epidemic prevention measures. "I think there is consistency between words and deeds [of Chinese government agencies] ... Their outbreak situation has always been better than that of the United States. He said. The survey also reportedly found that concerns about "fake news" hit a new high, with 3/4 of respondents worldwide worried that such disinformation was being "used as a weapon." Amid fears in all sectors of society, climate change is now the biggest concern after unemployment.