A Japanese government survey has found that the percentage of people who have friendly feelings toward China and Russia fell to record lows.

The Cabinet Office on Friday released the results of its annual survey of the public's views on Japan's diplomacy.

The questionnaire was mailed to 3,000 Japanese nationals between last September and October, with 1,649 people responding.

The percentage of people who said they feel an affinity with China was 12.7 percent. That is down by 5.1 points from the previous survey.

The figure is the lowest since China was included in the survey in 1978. But changes in the survey method introduced in 2020 make simple comparisons difficult.

Foreign Ministry officials say they believe people's perceptions of China have been influenced by Beijing's suspension of Japanese seafood imports, among other issues.

As for Russia, only 4.1 percent said they feel friendly toward the country amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. That is also a record low.

Regarding other countries, the percentage of people who feel an affinity with the United States was almost unchanged at 87.4 percent, and that for South Korea rose by 6.9 points to 52.8 percent.