More people from around the world now have a positive opinion about China, although China's Asian neighbors view the United States more favorably, a survey has found.

A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in the US polled 45,435 respondents in 40 countries. The survey found that a median of 55 percent across those nations have a favorable opinion of China.

"Ratings for China have risen slightly across the 35 countries surveyed in both 2014 and 2015. A median of 49 percent had a positive view of China across these countries in 2014, but in 2015, it is 54 percent" in those 35 countries, it said.

Frequent non-governmental exchanges between China and other countries in recent years have contributed to the rise of China's image across the world, said Wang Huiyao, director of the Center of China and Globalization, a Beijing think tank.

Wang said more than 100 million Chinese people went abroad last year to travel, shop or study. The face-to-face contact gave people in other countries opportunities to get to know real Chinese people, whom in the past they could see only on TV or read about in newspapers.

This also explained why the younger generation in these countries hold more positive opinions toward China than older generations do, Wang added.

The survey found that in the 18 countries surveyed, younger people have a more favorable view toward China than their elders. The trend was most pronounced in the US, where 55 percent of young Americans (those 18 to 29 years old) had a favorable view of China, while among those 50 and older, it was only 27 percent.

"Compared with older people, the young have more opportunities to visit China and come into contact with Chinese people on different occasions, which helps build their positive attitude toward China," Wang said.

The survey also found that Africa and Latin America exhibited favorable views toward China, but that in the country's own backyard in Asia, opinions were divergent.

Yang Mian, a professor in the School of Politics and Law at Communication University of China, said, "Some of the Asian countries surveyed, such as Japan, Vietnam and Philippines, had or are having territorial disputes with China. It's understandable that under such circumstances, people of these countries tend to hold opinions that are not so positive toward China".