You might not guess it from the often frosty official relations between Washington and Beijing, but Chinese are more likely to see the US – rather than China – as the world’s “ideal country”, a survey comparing the Chinese, American and British dreams has found.

But although 35 per cent of Chinese see the US as “ideal” now (compared to just 26 per cent who see China as ideal), the proportion of respondents who think the US will remain the ideal country in 10 years time falls to 14 per cent, while those thinking China will by that time be “ideal” shoots up to 42 per cent of respondents. 

The new survey, conducted by WPP, the advertising and public relations giant, also found that Australia, France, New Zealand, Germany, the UK and Canada ranked as countries named as “ideal” by Chinese respondents now (see chart).