The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer shows a global collapse of economic optimism as people show a historic low optimism toward the future of their life. Among the 28 surveyed countries, 24 showed an all-time low in believing they and their family members would be better off in five years.

"There's nothing that bonds people together; there's nothing that makes people feel like they have a common project; there isn't something really to look forward to," Carlos Martinez, editor of Friends of Socialist China, said in an interview with CGTN, during the Third Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations on July 3 in Beijing. He said poverty, inequality and social alienation have caused many youth in Europe to lose trust in the government and their future. A young delegate from Finland, Bex Tapanainen, echoed the pessimism among youth in Finland.

Yet during their journey in China, they found people in China show the opposite attitude compared to their peers in the West. The Edelman Barometer shows similar results, as China is the only country among the surveyed 28 where people show a growing optimism about their future in the next five years.