Latin Americans increasingly favor China in past two years, The Economist survey finds

Favorability toward China has continued to improve across Latin America over the past two years, according to a latest survey released by The Economist on September 30.

The latest Latinobarómetro poll, published by The Economist, shows that favorable views of China increased in 15 of the 17 Latin American countries surveyed: the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Bolivia, Panama, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay. 

Among the 17 countries, Panama and Ecuador were the only two countries to see a slight decline in favorability toward China.

The survey also found that favorable views of the United States declined in 15 of the 17 countries surveyed over the same period.

"For the first time, in a historically pro-American region, more Latin Americans now see China’s influence as positive than that of the United States," The Economist said.

The magazine attributed the decline of US favorability in Latin America in part to US President Donald Trump's more confrontational approach toward a region he believes the United States should dominate.

The survey found that nearly two-thirds disapproved of Trump's handling of international relations.

The findings are broadly in line with a survey released by the Pew Research Center in July. It found that in 27 of the 36 countries and regions surveyed, people held more favorable views of China than of the United States.

Since 2023, the gap between favorable views of China and the US in those countries has steadily narrowed, before reversing in the 2026 survey. The median share of respondents with a favorable view of China stood at 46%, compared with 36% for the United States.