China holds fire on congratulating Biden

Congratulations from around the world have poured in for US President-elect Joe Biden

However, one big player - China - has yet to do so.

In a press briefing Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin tread cautiously around the issue.

"We note that Mr. Biden has declared victory. We understand that the result of the U.S. presidential election will be determined following U.S. laws and procedures."

Ealier in the day, state-backed newspaper were more straightforward, even sounding a note of optimism about the future.

An editorial in the influential Global Times said a Biden presidency would mean more predictability, and that would be "in the common interests of people from both countries and the international community"...starting with trade.

Under President Donald Trump's administration, the U.S. launched a bruising tariff war with China.

Trump has warned that victory for Joe Biden would mean a win for China, and that Beijing would "own America."

But there is little to suggest Beijing will find Biden a soft alternative.

He's called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "thug" and vowed to lead an international campaign to "pressure, isolate and punish China."

His campaign has also labelled China's actions against Muslims in the country's western Xinjiang region "genocide" - a step further than current policy.

Even the Global Times acknowledged that a changing of the guard was unlikely to ease pressure on China when it came to issues like human rights.

But, in the China Daily, a separate editorial called for reviving trade talks, saying it was one of the last threads linking the two countries.

And a good start for restoring trust and understanding.