Japanese and Chinese people's views on recent relations between their countries have markedly improved, an annual survey showed Thursday, after years of abysmal readings.
Japanese respondents who think the current status of bilateral ties is "bad" or "relatively bad" accounted for 44.9 percent, down sharply from last year's 71.9 percent and going below 50 percent for the first time in seven years.
The survey, conducted by Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO and the China International Publishing Group, found that 64.2 percent of Chinese respondents held a negative perception, compared with 78.2 percent in the previous year.