Updated: 2008-06-20 07:53
Young Chinese no longer hold a romantic view of France but they are still confident of future Sino-French relations, a recent survey has found.
The survey, which polled 4,303 Chinese aged between 18 and 29 in 10 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, found that 60 percent of the urbanites remained neutral or had a negative perception of the current state of Sino-French relations.
The poll, conducted by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group and the center for European studies of Fudan University in April and May, was one of the latest efforts to assess the attitude of young Chinese toward France following disruptions of the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Paris by Tibetan separatists.
The recent survey showed that more than 60 percent of those polled harbored negative feelings toward the European country, which was ranked the fourth-most friendly country to China just four years ago.
Among those surveyed, college students were found to hold the most negative view of current bilateral relations.
At the same time, the survey found that most Chinese youths still acknowledge the importance of the Sino-French strategic partnership.
Nearly one-third of the respondents agreed that China's relationship with France is important, similar to Germany (29.2 percent) and Britain (29 percent), but still lagging far behind the United States (51.4 percent).
About 30 percent of Chinese urban youths hold a positive view of France's role in international security and anti-terrorism cooperation. They also had a favorable impression of the country's treatment of minorities.
Similarly, the survey showed that a vast majority of young Chinese were confident of the future of Sino-French relations. Nearly 70 percent of them were optimistic about the relationship.
France has become China's fourth largest trading partner in the European Union (EU) in recent years, official figures have showed.
Bilateral trade volume amounted to $33.6 billion last year, an increase of 33.7 percent from 2006.
More than 15,000 Chinese students go to France to study every year.
The survey also found that most Chinese youths continue to regard China's relations with the EU as one of the most important, despite similar Olympic torch relay disruptions in a number of EU member countries.
More than 40 percent of those polled thought positively of current China-EU relations, ranked only after China-US relations.
The survey also suggested that a majority of Chinese youths hope to know more about the EU through the media and travel.
"The survey showed an accurate understanding among Chinese urban youth of the European Union and the positive assessment of the EU is an excellent signal for the future," said Franck Debie, general director of the Foundation of Innovative Politics.
A majority of Chinese youth believe that Europe is not going to become a military superpower with hegemonic ambitions, but an equal partner in trade, science and culture with China, he said.
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