YOUNGER Filipinos are more likely than older Filipinos to hold favorable views of China and Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as the Philippines remains highly concerned about Beijing as a security threat and about territorial disputes involving China, a Pew Research Center survey showed.
The Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey found that 47 percent of Filipinos aged 18 to 34 had a favorable view of China, compared with 27 percent among those aged 50 and older.
Among Filipinos aged 35 to 49, 44 percent viewed China favorably, according to Pew's detailed tables.
A similar generational divide emerged in views of Xi.
Some 61 percent of Filipinos aged 18 to 34 expressed confidence in Xi to do the right thing regarding world affairs, compared with 32 percent among those aged 50 and older. Among those aged 35 to 49, 55 percent expressed such confidence.
The survey's Philippine fieldwork was conducted from Feb. 28 to March 31, 2026, as part of Pew's international survey.
It involved 1,003 Filipino adults aged 18 and older who were interviewed face-to-face.
The Philippine sample used a multistage, area probability design, with villages serving as primary sampling units stratified by geographic region and population size. A total of 100 primary sampling units were selected.
Pew said the Philippine sample was representative of the country's adult population and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
The data were weighted by gender, age, education, region, urbanicity and the probability of selecting respondents.
Despite the relatively more favorable views of China among younger Filipinos, China remained a major source of concern in the Philippines.
Pew found that 76 percent of Filipinos named China as the top threat to the country.
At least eight in 10 Filipinos said they were very or somewhat concerned about territorial disputes involving China and neighboring countries, a level of concern that Pew said has remained high in the Philippines for more than a decade.
The survey showed that favorable views of China and confidence in its leadership coexist with concerns over Beijing's regional actions.
Only 42 percent of Filipinos described China as a reliable partner, compared with majorities of 70 percent or more in several other Asia-Pacific countries surveyed.
By comparison, 81 percent of Filipinos viewed the United States as a reliable partner in Pew's comparison of the two countries.
The US was also viewed more favorably than China in the Philippines.
