China and Japan are experiencing the worst slide in public sentiment towards each other in two decades, with nearly 90 per cent of respondents harbouring a negative view of their neighbour, according to a new joint poll.

The 20th Japan-China Joint Public Opinion Poll was released on Monday by Tokyo-based think tank The Genron NPO and Beijing-based China International Publishing Group, ahead of the annual Tokyo-Beijing Forum.

In the survey, 87.7 per cent of Chinese respondents said they had a negative impression of Japan, up by close to a quarter from last year's survey. It was the second highest proportion since the survey began in 2005, The Genron NPO said in a statement on its website.

The highest was 92.8 per cent in 2013, after Tokyo nationalised the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku Islands in Japan, the previous year - after buying them from private owners. Anti-Japanese demonstrations then erupted in several cities across China.

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Chinese demonstrators clash with paramilitary policemen during an anti-Japan protest outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing in September 2012.

On the other hand, 89 per cent of Japanese respondents in this year's survey had an unfavourable impression of China, but this was down 3.2 percentage points from 2023.

The percentage of Japanese respondents who thought bilateral relations were "very important" was 67.1 per cent, a slight increase from last year, but the percentage of Chinese respondents who thought so was 26.3 per cent, a sharp drop of nearly 34 points to a record low.

"It was the worst deterioration in public sentiment in the 20 years of this poll," The Genron NPO said on its website.

The percentage of respondents who believed in the importance of bilateral relations had never fallen below 60 per cent in either country before, it added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of their talks on the Apec margins in Lima, Peru, on November 15.

The top obstacle to smooth relations according to Chinese respondents was the release of treated radioactive water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant last year, which had prompted vehement protests and a seafood ban from Beijing.

For the Japanese, the biggest hurdle was the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The survey also revealed public sentiment trends in China about today's divided world, the war in Ukraine and other conflicts, as well as North Korea, the United Nations and "a wide range of other issues", The Genron NPO's statement said.

The poll covered residents of either country over the age of 18, with 1,000 responses collected in Japan and 1,500 responses across 10 Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The results of the survey were released ahead of this year's Beijing-Tokyo Forum hosted by The Genron NPO and China International in the Japanese capital, a two-day event starting on Wednesday.

Gao Anming, editor-in-chief of the China International Publishing Group, said that the sharp deterioration in Chinese attitudes towards Japan "cannot be attributed to the impact of sudden events".

They were sceptical about Japan's strategy on a range of issues, including disputed islands in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and Taiwan, Gao said while announcing the poll results with The Genron NPO in Tokyo on Monday.

He also noted that the Chinese were anxious about what position Japan would take after US president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

China-Japan relations have experienced several ups and downs in 2024.

In September, a Japanese boy was stabbed to death in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, less than three months after a Chinese national died defending a Japanese mother and child from a knife attack in Suzhou, close to Shanghai.

These attacks have fuelled security concerns for Japanese citizens in China and negative sentiment towards China in Japan.

Relations between the two countries have also taken a hit as Beijing builds up its military capabilities in the region and Tokyo strengthens security ties with the United States and its allies.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Peru last month, said China wanted to work with Japan and "constructively manage differences".

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Xi said he hoped Japan could "face history squarely" and "properly handle" major issues, including historical matters and Taiwan.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China, to be reunified by force if necessary. While most countries, including the US and Japan, do not recognise self-ruled Taiwan as an independent state, Washington opposes any attempt to take it by force and has pledged to supply it with weapons.

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