Asean citizens view China as paramount future partner: Japan poll

Hands of China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai who jointly host a press conference after their meeting as part of the 52nd Asean Ministerial Meeting 2019 at the Centara Grand in Bangkok on July 30, 2019. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

TOKYO: Nearly half of people surveyed in Southeast Asia picked China as the region's most important partner in the future, surpassing Japan for the first time, according to the results of a Japanese government opinion poll released on Wednesday.

The survey showed 48% of respondents from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations chose China, unchanged from the last survey in fiscal 2019. China was followed by 43% for Japan, down 8 percentage points, and 41% for the United States, up 4 points.