The poll indicated that Germany is the most popular country in the world, followed by the United Kingdom, while the United States and China ranked seventh and eighth respectively.

China is now regarded as a positive influence by 44 percent of interviewees, compared with 41 percent in 2010 and 39 percent in 2009, according to the poll.

The proportion of people holding the opposite view on China's international influence remained steady at 38 percent in 2011 and 2010, said the poll.

The survey was conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan, its research partners in each country, and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland in the United States.

A total of 28,619 people in 27 countries were surveyed face-to-face or via telephone interviews between Dec 2, 2010, and Feb 4.

The survey showed that China is more favorably regarded throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, while negative opinions are more likely in major Western countries.

In Asia, the survey showed that opinions on China improved compared with last year, with 20 percent more interviewees in Indonesia seeing China as a country with a positive international influence, and in Pakistan, with 66 percent of interviewees having a positive outlook, up 10 points on the figure in 2010.

However, the survey also showed that a negative image of China still prevails in the US and most polled countries in Europe.

Related readings:  US experts laud China's 5-year plan  What if China wanted to buy the NYSE?  Obama to name Locke as new US ambassador to China  China to be as top consumer of high-end products by 2015

"The countries' contributions to world peace and the global economy are the main factors influencing the outcome of the survey" said Li Yonghui," dean of the school of international relations and diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

"China's increasing sense of presence in international issues and the ideological differences between China and Western countries contribute to their negative outlook on China."

The survey pointed to Western countries' concern about China's dynamic development, since China is, in their opinion, challenging the traditional international order, which was originally formed by those Western countries, Li said.

"Germany is a relatively liberal country in dealing with international issues," said Su Hao, director of the Center for Strategic and Conflict Management at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, explaining why Germany was the most popular country in the survey.

"China is an engine of the global economy," Su said. "How to promote its overseas image is the challenge facing China."

Li called for more people-to-people communication between China and other countries to help create a more positive image of the country in the international community.