Japan's image in the eyes of the Chinese public has "slightly improved" in the past year because the portion of Chinese people having a "bad" or "relatively bad" impression about Japan dropped by about six percentage points from the previous year to 86.8 percent of those polled, a latest poll unveiled on Tuesday.

But in Japan, the corresponding figure hit a record high of 93 percent this year, according to the 10th Public Opinion on China-Japan Relations survey, which was co-sponsored annually by China Daily and Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO.

Kevin Jiang, vice-general manager of market research consultancy Horizonkey Information and Data Co Ltd, said: "Compared with the large number of Japanese people who harbor ill-will toward China, Chinese people are relatively more rational."

In China, the Diaoyu Islands dispute topped the list when Chinese respondents were asked what first came to mind regarding the bilateral relationship – 46.6 percent of those polled thought about the dispute.

In Japan, air pollution topped the list for the first time. The environmental concern was first on the minds of Japanese respondents at 41.2 percent of those polled, surpassing the idea of Chinese cuisine. The dispute over the islands ranked third for them.

Yasushi Kudo, president of Genron NPO, said: "The ups and downs of bilateral relations in the past decade have swayed the two peoples' feelings (toward each other's nation). The ties should be lifted out of confrontation.

"Efforts should be made for dialogue and communication in a healthy way," Kudo said. "It is important that both Chinese and Japanese people have realized the lack of communication and trust between the two governments."

"The opinion polls, which have been conducted consecutively for 10 years, mirror the will of the two peoples and serve as an important channel to understand each other," said Zhu Baoxia, secretary-general of China Daily, at the press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.