Most undergraduates in China and Japan view the other nation as a vital neighbor with 37 of them being optimistic about the future of bilateral relations, according to a survey published on Sunday.

 

The survey, jointly commission by China's periodical Outlook Weekly and mainstream Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri, polled 1,020 Japanese and 987 Chinese college students in March.

 

The survey quizzed the students about their general knowledge on several topics: world affairs, the other country, the future of China-Japan relations, and finally issues of common concern to the teo neighbors.

 

Though a majority of respondents showed themselves to be hesitant about the current state of bilateral relations, 37 percent of them believe that they will "improve" or "greatly improve" in the future. Over 40 percent did not expect to see any changes.

 

Over two-thirds of Japanese undergraduates polled viewed China as Japan's most important partner for economic growth; with their Chinese peers according the US the same honor, placing Japan in second.

 

Both Chinese and Japanese students mostly thought that China would soon be the most influential country of the world while most of those polled in Japan thought that China's GDP would overtake Japan's within a decade.

 

National pride seemed to reign triumphant with ninety-six of Chinese young people expressing their patriotism, as opposed to 80 percent in Japan.

 

Finally, the survey did revealed that the Japanese seemed better-traveled with 10 percent of respondents having been to China, but under 4 percent of their Chinese counterparts having made the trip to Japan.  

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2007)