BEIJING: More than 80 per cent of Chinese say they do not yet see their country as a “world power”, according to a newspaper poll published Monday.

The survey, in the Global Times daily, also said that more than half of respondents expressed “positive views” of Beijing’s relations with Washington, though most were pessimistic about ties with Tokyo.

A total of 82.3 per cent of people surveyed said that China had yet to obtain world power status.

The statistic made the front-page headline of the paper's English language edition – but in the Chinese-language version the story was relegated to a low mention on an inside page.

The Global Times, which has links to the ruling Communist Party, said the poll was released by its Global Poll Center.

The survey, carried out via telephone and the Internet, collected responses from 1,404 residents above the age of 15 in seven cities, including Beijing and the financial hub of Shanghai.

Public opinion polls are rare in China, where the Communist Party decries notions of what it calls “Western-style” democracy.

Asked what was “the most significant event that helped elevate China's international standing” in 2012, 44.6 percent of respondents cited the Chinese navy taking delivery of the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

A former Soviet vessel, it went into service in September in a symbolic milestone for China's growing military muscle.

But the paper quoted Zhu Feng, a professor at Peking University's School of International Studies, as saying: “Being a world power is not about how many aircraft carriers it has.

“It's more about demonstrating a humble, elegant, confident image on a global platform.”

In the survey 54 per cent of respondents said China was on the verge of becoming a world power, while 53 per cent felt positively about Sino-US relations.

Around 57 per cent named China as their “favourite country”, with the US in second place.

“It's good to see a growing patriotism and recognition among Chinese for their motherland, but we cannot deny that the US does have an appeal to some,” Zhu said. “For example, it does a better job at democracy and law enforcement.”

Most survey respondents had a dim view of the outlook for relations with Japan, with which China is embroiled in a territorial dispute.

Less than 24 per cent felt that relations would improve, with 33 per cent seeing them worsening and 38 per cent thinking they would stay the same.

The survey found that nearly 70 per cent cited Japan's nationalisation of the disputed islands as “the most significant global event in 2012”.