Forget eastern promise – it seems that eastern optimism has now taken over as a key economic driver in Asia.
The world’s most hopeful people live in China, India and Indonesia, a survey of the world’s 20 leading economies, the bloc known as the G20, has found.
The study, commissioned by Handelsblatt and conducted by YouGov, reveals that three quarters of the residents of the three Asian countries think their personal situation will improve in the next three years.
And overall, people in Asian G20 countries were far more hopeful about the future compared to people in other member countries.
The study, a barometer of G20 attitudes, surveyed 20,000 people across the G20, providing rare insights into people’s thinking in different countries and regions.
It found that among Asian G20 members, 47 to 66 percent of people expect their children’s lives will be better than theirs. India polled the highest number of people who are content with their own economic situation.
But there are pessimists in the region too – in Japan and South Korea. After years of deflation and low growth, only 12 percent of people living in Japan expect their own situation to improve. The majority, or 42 percent, expects their children’s situation to be worse than their own. The proportion in South Korea was even higher, at 46 percent.
In terms of national pride, Asian G20 countries are also divided. People in India thought their country had the best political system, the second-best economic system and the second best standard of living in the world after the United States.
In South Korea and Japan, many people see China as an aggressive world power. 
People in China and Indonesia also think their political systems are among the most advanced. The people of all three countries saw their own nation as a benevolent major power.
Again, views differed significantly across the region. In South Korea, people had less regard for their own political system and also their quality of life. In terms of the latter, in Japan the majority responded, “I don’t know,” also suggesting uncertainty.
A further feature of the poll in Asia was how the countries in the region see each other. In South Korea and Japan, many people see China as an aggressive world power. People in China see Japan as an unfriendly world power, while South Koreans see both Japan and China as unfriendly.
And while in Indonesia people orient themselves towards Japan as an economic model, people in India look to the United States and the United Kingdom.
People living in the G20 countries in the region gave a variety of reasons for the differences in opinion.
Hu Ying, a 33-year old assistant at a cultural company in China, where per capita income has increased by a factor of 24 since 1990, said: “China has undergone a huge change. Many people became very wealthy very quickly.”
China was among the few countries whose people see it as a major world power – matched only by India, Russia and the United States. In terms of China’s potential as a global power, Ms. Hu said the country isn’t aiming for domination, but to secure a good standard of living for its people. “Chinese people work hard, whether they’re migrant workers or managers,” she said.
In China, 62 percent saw the country as a suitable leader for a shared government of the leading industrial and developing nations – although only 4 percent voted for President Xi Jinping as a potential global leader.
Hu said the control of the Internet in her country bothered her, athough she added: “Anyone who knows a bit about IT can get around the firewall.” Despite restrictions in the freedom of expression and the dominant one party system, 41 percent of people living in China said they believed in the political system there.
This faith isn’t wholly matched by people in Japan, the survey found.
There, people rated the United States as having the best economic and political system in the world. People in Japan see the United States and their own country as equally benevolent world powers.
Respondents from Japan also expressed admiration for France and Germany, for their occasional opposition to U.S. policy as well as the strength of their democracies.
Like most people around the world, many Japanese worry about war, terrorism and inequality. But many hope, too, that their children will have more opportunities than their parents and live in a less rigid society.
People in Japan respect Germany for Chancellor Merkel’s stance in the refugee crisis. “She stood up for her ideals,” said Yoshio Hotta, a PR specialist and a journalist who spent 25 years working in the United States. “No Japanese politician would have been able to push through their policies that way.”
In Indonesia, people worry more than average about terrorism, war, religious conflict and hunger. But, one citizen said she doesn’t fear a war between Islam and the West. “On both sides, there are people who try and turn the cultures against one another,” said Diajeng Lestari. “But people are smart and they can use the Internet to gather information and find out whether what they’re being told is right or wrong.”
Lestari, who runs a fashion business, sees no clash between Islam and modern life, nor does she see the headscarf she wears as a problem. She trusts Germany will manage to integrate the influx of refugees and said she was impressed that countries in Europe are accepting Muslim refugees. She thought wealthy states in the Persian Gulf should do so, too.
Rather than religious conflict, Lestari told pollsters she is concerned about the growing gap between rich and poor in Indonesia. She has faith in her own country’s political system but also, like many other Indonesians, looks to China as a model economy that has freed many from poverty.
In India, despite low per capita income, many are optimistic and people were the most satisfied of all 20,000 people polled. Two-thirds of people living in India were satisfied with their personal economic situation – and expect it to keep improving. Nearly 60 percent said they thought people born now would have a better future.
Not everyone took that view. “I only see poverty, the same as always,” said Ravichandran Bathran, a researcher. He took a critical view of Narendra Modi, the country’s prime minister, though the majority of Indians trust their leader more than other heads of state. Broadly, Indian respondents showed pride and optimism about their political and economic systems.
Others though look for a leadership beyond individual politicians – such as Sungun Chang of South Korea. “I think these issues have to be dealt with on a global level,” she said. “We all live on this one planet.” She said the Pope or Warren Buffett could potentially take such a leadership role.
Like many around the world, she listed Germany and Canada among countries that appealed. Of economic systems, she said: “The European countries have managed the best.” Chang also hoped that the situation for herself and her country would improve – but said her generation has it better than many born today.
(YouGov asked 1,000 people in each of the world’s 20 leading economies, the G20, about their attitudes in a poll conducted online between January 19 and February 23.)