China's overseas image improves: survey

China's image is steadily improving and the country is becoming more appealing to foreigners, according to a survey released this week.

The survey was conducted between January and March 2016, by British market consulting and research firm Millward Brown, U.S. research company Lightspeed GMI, and the Centre for International Communication Studies at the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration.

Overseas youth aged 18-35 had the best understanding and impressions of China, the survey showed.

Among overseas respondents, about 31 percent plan to study, work or travel in China within the next three years, 5 percentage points higher than last year, and the most attractive cities are Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

China ranked second in global influence, with the United States the most influential country, according to the report.

Respondents believed China's economic development on other countries has a positive impact, broadly agreeing with a series of statements such as "China's growth has propelled the global economic development."

Chinese companies were seen in a positive light, with more than 30 percent of respondents agreeing that they had brought new capital and technologies as well as created new jobs.

The report also showed that the five most well-known Chinese brands were Lenovo, Huawei, Alibaba, ZTE and Haier.

The survey had a sample of 9,500 people. Endi