I mean, what has China done to earn a positive view? A lot of countries do their own "public relations" to improve their soft power. Essentially a country with a favourable image can win over foreign investments and negotiate favourable trade deals. Examples of that would be Thailand and Pad Thai (invented by the government who also pay for thai restaurants to be opened internationally), and South Korea and kpop which is heavily subsidized by the government hoping they can produce #1 hits internationally.

The opposite of soft power is hard power. Essentially threatening countries with military action and economic sanctions. China is very heavy on the hard power and it has ruined its image. They're not the only ones. USA, Russia, UAE, all flex their hard power to get what they want.