---
title: "Partner? Rival? For many in U.S., China is both"
description: "More than half of Americans say it's very important to be \"tough\" with China on economic and trade issues -- about as many who say \"building a strong relationship\" with China is very important."
date: "2013-07-10"
authors:
  - name: "Drew DeSilver"
    job_title: "Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/drew-desilver/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/07/10/partner-rival-for-many-in-u-s-china-is-both/"
categories:
  - "Bilateral Relations"
  - "Global Balance of Power"
---

# Partner? Rival? For many in U.S., China is both

The fifth round of the [U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue](http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/04/207462.htm) gets underway in Washington, D.C. this week, as Americans continue to have very mixed feelings about their relationship with the nation's [second-largest trading partner](http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1212yr.html#2012) (after Canada).

[![Policy-Priorities-US-China](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/07/Policy-Priorities-US-China.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/07/Policy-Priorities-US-China.png)

A Pew Research Center [survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2012/09/18/u-s-public-experts-differ-on-china-policies/) conducted in collaboration with[ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace](http://carnegieendowment.org/) last year found that 56% of Americans said it's "very important" for the U.S. to be tough with China on economic and trade issues, and 52% said China's emergence as a world power constituted a major threat to the United States. At the same time, 55% of the U.S. public said building a strong relationship with China should be a top priority, and nearly two-thirds (65%) said U.S.-China relations were "very" or "somewhat" good.

A separate Pew Research [survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2013/05/23/economies-of-emerging-markets-better-rated-during-difficult-times/) conducted earlier this year found sharply differing attitudes among the U.S. and Chinese publics on their respective economies. Fully 88% of Chinese called their country's economy good, up 6 percentage points from 2007; only 33% of Americans said the same thing about the U.S. economy, a 17-percentage-point drop from 2007. Chinese were also more optimistic: 80% said they expected their nation's economy to improve over the coming 12 months, compared with 44% of Americans who felt that way about the U.S. economy.

The S&ED, as it's known, was established in 2009 as a regular mechanism for high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials. Secretary of State John Kerry and State Councilor Yang Jiechi co-chair the "strategic track," while Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Vice Premier Wang Yang lead the "economic track."