84% in Japan have negative impression of China; 65% there feel the same way back - by Kyodo

 A recent annual joint bilateral poll has found that 84.3 percent of Japanese and 64.5 percent of Chinese respondents have a negative impression of each other's country, although about 80 percent on both sides see bilateral relations as important, the poll's sponsors said Wednesday.

The percentage of Japanese with a negative impression of China rose 6 percentage points from the previous year, reaching the highest level since the Japanese think tank Genron NPO and the state-run China Daily initiated the annual survey in 2005, they said.

The most frequently cited reason was that China comes across as selfish in securing resources and energy. This was cited by 54.4 percent of respondents allowed to select multiple reasons.

The second reason, cited by 48.4 percent, was that China has continued a territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The percentage of Chinese respondents with negative feelings toward Japan declined 1.4 percentage points from last year.

The most frequently cited factor contributing to such feelings was the history of bilateral relations, including the war. Among other factors, some 40 percent cited the Japanese government's tough stance on the Senkaku dispute.

The poll was conducted from April through May covering 1,000 Japanese and 1,627 Chinese.

Of the Japanese respondents, 53.7 percent view Japan-China relations as bad. Only 7.4 percent view bilateral ties as good.