WELLINGTON, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of New Zealanders with favorable perceptions of China rose as a result of the widely reported 2008 Beijing Olympics, according a research report released on Thursday.

    The report was co-funded by Colmar Brunton and the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

    This was only the third time that any Olympic Games had been hosted in Asia. Interviews conducted after the Beijing Games showed that 22 percent of New Zealanders (up from 17 percent before the Games took place) thought that New Zealanders felt warmer toward the people from China compared to 12 months ago.

    The Olympic Games were the single most common reason given for this change of attitude.

    Colmar Brunton's Beijing Olympics report also measured a notable positive shift in sentiment toward Asian peoples and cultures in general. China remains the country New Zealanders predominantly think about when they think about Asia.

    "The positive impact of the Olympics on New Zealanders' perceptions of Asia was significant enough to be told as a story in its own right. Hosting the Olympic Games was hugely important for China," commented Andrew Butcher, Asia New Zealand Foundation's director of policy and research.

    "Not only have the Olympics positioned China well on the world stage, but they have also shaped how New Zealanders see Asia," he added

    To regularly keep track of how New Zealanders' perceptions of Asia evolve, the Asia New Zealand Foundation annually commissions Colmar Brunton to produce the Perceptions of Asia study, measuring New Zealanders' attitudes toward, and perceptions of, Asia.

    Over the last 10 years, this program of research has tracked the growth in New Zealanders' greater contact with Asian peoples and the growing importance of Asia to New Zealand across many facets of our lives.