Chinese Citizens' Impression of India and the Influencing Factors: An Empirical Study Based on a Survey in 2020

Abstract

Impressions towards foreign countries increasingly play an important role in international relations. While much research has been conducted on other countries' impressions of China and China's impressions of European and American countries, little research has been conducted on Chinese citizens' impressions of India, which is also a mega-developing country. By exploring Chinese citizens' impressions and the influencing factors towards India, it is important to enrich both research and foreign policy formulation in the area of international trust. This study uses descriptive analysis and logistic regression modelling to investigate the factors influencing Chinese citizen's impressions of India through the framework of social identity, political efficacy, political participation, media socialisation, and intergroup contact, based on data from the India sub-subject of the public questionnaire survey conducted by the 2020 ‘Chinese View of the European Union (EU)’ project. The study's findings show that patriotic tendencies are the most influential factor in Chinese citizens' impressions of India. The study results show that variables such as patriotic tendencies, social satisfaction, frequency of internet use, and religious acceptance strongly influence Chinese citizens' impressions of India. In contrast, the hypotheses of some theoretical variables need to be further confirmed as Chinese citizens' impressions of India are slightly lower than those of other large countries such as the US, Japan, and Russia.