(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-09 14:16

Most undergraduates in China and Japan regard the other country as an important nation and 37 percent of them are positive about future China-Japan relations, according to a survey published on Sunday.

The survey, jointly conducted by the 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 investigated the students' knowledge of the world and the other country; the future of China-Japan relations; and global issues of common concern.

Though a majority of respondents are not satisfied with the current state of bilateral relations, 37 percent of them believe the relations will "improve" or "greatly improve" in the future. More than 40 percent think the relations will "remain unchanged".

More than two thirds of the Japanese undergraduates chose China as Japan's most important partner for economic growth; whereas Chinese students ranked Japan in the second place following the United States.

Both Chinese and Japanese students believe China will become the most influential country in the world. More than half of the Japanese students deemed China would overtake Japan in the next 10 years in terms of GDP.

Ninety-six percent of Chinese young people said they are proud of their own country, and 80 percent of Japanese said they are proud of Japan.

The survey also found that just about 10 percent of the Japanese respondents have been to China, and less than four percent of their Chinese counterparts have been to Japan.