More than half the people in Japan and China are pessimistic that ties between the two countries can be improved in the near future, according to a joint opinion poll by Japanese and Chinese organizations.

Seventy-three percent of Japan's general respondents and 73.6 percent of its intellectual and business communities either think relations will deteriorate further or are unsure how they will develop, according to the poll conducted by Japanese think tank Genron NPO, the China Daily and Peking University.

In China, 56.1 percent of the general public and 81 percent of university students had similar opinions about bilateral relations, according to the survey.

The poll was conducted in four parts.