Despite the fact that China has notably weighed on global affairs as an emerging force and the economy has boosted national confidence, fewer people appear to favor categorizing the nation as a "powerful state," a Global Times survey reveals.

Survey: Is China a world power? [Global Times]

The survey also found that the countries most favored by respondents are the United States, France, Australia, Singapore and Japan, while the top five countries they want to visit are the US, France, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

The results differ significantly from opinions expressed in Internet forums, where the above-mentioned countries are often targets of heated verbal attacks.

Most of the Chinese citizens surveyed claimed that the external environment would become increasingly favorable to China's growth, but expressed cautious optimism when asked to rank their country in terms of future national strength. Almost half said they detected "foreign intentions to contain China's development," though without "tangible moves" being seen.

The complex sentiment was conveyed in the findings of a survey, The World in the Chinese Public's Eyes, by the Global Times, the latest of four annual polls designed to tap the views of the Chinese public on international affairs concerning China.

The report is based on telephone interviews of a random sampling of more than 1,400 people – half of whom hold college degrees or above – in five major cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chongqing.

In total, 15.5 percent of participants said they regard China as a "global power," down by an average of 5 percent compared with previous polls, and even lower compared with the 2008 percentage of 26.8, which was boosted by the Beijing Olympics.

In this year's results, 58.4 percent prefer not to see China as a "complete" major power, up from 43.7 percent last year.

In the meantime, however, 86.8 percent said they remain optimistic on the future global setting for China's growth, among which, 36.1 percent say China's external environment will improve, while 50.7 percent noted that frictions with other countries would remain frequent.

Yet, economic strength, as well as the political and diplomatic leverage of China, two major parameters to define a major power according to the survey, were widely acknowledged by those polled, who said China deserves such a label by these two standards.

China's measures to handle the global economic downturn last year and the military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC were ranked as the top two events through which national competitiveness could be best reflected, the survey said.

Wu Xinbo, deputy dean of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, said, "The Chinese public has the most direct feeling of the difficulty and complexity of domestic issues. This is where the cautious judgment came from."

The survey showed that the public is more concerned with domestic issues such as the economy and their livelihood, while interest in politics and foreign affairs is decreasing, Wu said.

The country's political and diplomatic strengths are not compatible with its staggering economic performance, and the results of the survey also reflect the public has a practical awareness of that disparity, Wu added.

The Southern Weekend, a newspaper based in Guangdong Province, also pointed out this mixed feeling in an editorial last week.

ATV documentary about China's rise caused a huge resonance among the country's middle class in 2006. However, the same people are now drawn to the latest TV serial, Snail House, which tells stories about urban people's struggle to afford a home.

"Apparently, for the Chinese public, the rise of the 'great power' is far from enough," the newspaper said.

On the foreign relations front, ties with developed nations enjoy a higher degree of public preference, as 81.3 percent of participants in the poll ranked China-US ties as the most significant foreign relationship for China, before Beijing's ties with Japan, Russia and Europeans on the second tier, and ties with its developing peers at the bottom.

Economic and trade issues were the top factors that may tumble ties between China and the US, while trade frictions and pressure over human rights and religion were voted the top issues that might hinder China-European relations, the survey said.

59.2 percent said corrupt officials are most likely to tarnish China's image, while the poor quality of some Chinese manufactured products ranked second.

The findings also indicated that television and the Internet function as the main source for international news for the Chinese audience, before newspapers and magazines.