Survey: Sino-US ties 'very important'
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A series of similar annual surveys conducted by Horizon from 2001 to 2009 showed that the Chinese public saw the US as a major threat, yet since 2006 more respondents saw Japan in that light and a large number, more than one third (35.3 percent), viewed Washington as Beijing's security partner, in 2009.
However, the 2010 survey found nearly 85 percent believed that the US-Japan alliance is threatening China, while nearly half (46.6 percent) do not think China poses any threat to the US.
During Hu's visit, starting on Tuesday, the first state visit to the US in five years, the top three issues respondents want the Chinese and US leaders to discuss are: the Korean Peninsula situation, the Taiwan question and the trade imbalance.
Other concerns include the Chinese currency, US involvement in South China Sea disputes and the US embargo on high-tech exports to China.
Wu Xinbo, deputy dean of the school of international relations and public affairs at Shanghai-based Fudan University, said more friction between Beijing and Washington is not necessarily a bad thing.
"It is a result of an emerging China which is getting more active in its relations with the US," Wu said. "It is a positive phenomenon for China."
Sino-US relations might advance amid friction, depending on the way problems are handled, he said.
However, Shi Yinhong, director of the US studies center at Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said given the fundamental problems in relations, as well as "situational factors", predicting how the relationship will develop in 2011 is difficult.
"I cannot even say I'm prudently positive," Shi said. "It depends on joint efforts from both sides, especially from the US, which should set an example."
Ni Feng, deputy chief of US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China-US relations have ended an eight-year period of stability and entered a transitional period full of uncertainty.
"The bottom line is the Taiwan issue. If we handle it well, there might be no big collisions," he said.
The survey took a sample of 1,443 Chinese citizens above 18 years of age in seven major cities across China in late December. It also covered in-depth interviews with leading figures from business, media, academic organizations and NGOs.
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