Twenty percent (20%) of Americans think what is good for China’s economy is good for the U.S. economy, as President Obama meets with Chinese leaders this week in an effort to ease economic tensions between the two nations.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 59% disagree. That’s down five points from a year ago, when 64% rejected the idea that what’s good for the Chinese economy is good for America’s.

Still, 84% of Americans rate U.S. relations with China as at least somewhat important, unchanged from November 2008. But 59% now say that relationship is very important, a 13-point jump from the earlier survey. Only 11% say U.S.-China relations are not very or not at all important.

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Sixty-six percent (66%) of investors say America’s relationship with China is very important. They’re also more inclined to say the U.S. economy benefits from what’s good for China economically.

Men are twice as likely as women to say what’s good for China’s economy is also good for the American economy. Younger men and women are more likely to believe that than those over age 40.
Republicans and adults not affiliated with either major party disagree more strongly than Democrats with the idea that what’s good for the Chinese economy is good for the U.S. economy. But all three groups agree on the importance of the U.S.-Chinese relationship.

Americans definitely have mixed feelings about China. Twenty-six percent (26%) say China is an enemy of the United States, but 19% view it as an ally. For the majority (51%) China is somewhere in between an ally and an enemy.

But in February, 43% of voters agreed with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she said China is not America’s adversary and that both countries help each other to succeed. Twenty-eight percent (28%) disagreed with Clinton.

The president’s eight-day swing through Asia began with a visit to Japan where leading politicians have been complaining about the U.S. military presence there. Just 26% of Americans say the United States should remove all its military troops from Japan.

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