WASHINGTON - More and more Americans consider China, rather than the United States, as the leading economic power in the world today, according to a poll released Monday by leading US research company Gallup.

Gallup said that 52 percent Americans named China as the leading economic power in the world today, up from 2009's figure of 39 percent.

This is China's strongest lead on this Gallup measure since its inception in 2000, and is a major change from 2009, when China and the US were nearly tied in Americans' perceptions about the leading power.

By contrast, 32 percent Americans regarded the United States as the top world economic power, dropping from 2009's reading of 37 percent.

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Meanwhile, Japan ranks the distant third at 7 percent. The poll also finds a 13-point surge since 2009 in the percentage of Americans who believe China will be the world economic leader in 20 years.

The 47 percent now saying this eclipses the 35 percent choosing the US as the leader; however, China's lead over the US on this measure is smaller than it is for perceptions about who leads today, and is not appreciably different from what it was in 2008.

No other country figures very largely in Americans' perceptions of the world's top economic powerhouse, with respect to either the present or the future. Fewer than five percent of Americans cite the European Union, Russia, or India as the leading power in either context.

The latest update of this poll is part of Gallup's annual World Affairs survey, conducted from Feb 2 to Feb 5.