Obama overwhelmingly popular among Chinese people

Washington, Oct 23 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama may be leading the US presidential race against John McCain by only about 10 percent in his country, but enjoys a much higher rating in China.

A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Wednesday gave the Democratic presidential nominee a 10 percent lead over his Republican rival.

But an online poll conducted on China Daily's website by the US Embassy, shows Obama enjoys the support of 75 percent among the Chinese.

A Horizon Research survey released on Wednesday showed about 35.5 percent Chinese "pay close attention" to the US presidential race. Even among these people, Obama's supporters exceed McCain's by 17.8 percent.

"The most impressive thing is that the Chinese people's strong backing for Obama," said Song Zhiyuan, who analyzed the survey results.

"Perhaps his age, energy, and even complexion, which signify the US dream, are more appealing to the Chinese," Song said.

Statistics show Obama was favored more than McCain by each of the target groups, which were divided according to gender, age, income and educational qualification.

Horizon Research received 2,791 effective answers to its questionnaire from people aged between 18 and 60 in seven big cities and seven towns.

The Chinese media have focused on Obama ever since he took on Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential nomination.

The US Embassy survey shows men with good educational qualifications and high salaries are more interested in the campaign, and less educated women and the elderly are less interested.

ANI