China's state media sounds off on Biden victory

Beijing has yet to congratulate Joe Biden on his presidential victory.

But China's state-backed media has weighed in, saying it could be good news for bilateral relations going forward, especially when it comes to trade.

Eve Johnson reports.

Congratulations from around the world have poured in for President-elect Joe Biden However, one big player - China - has yet to make an official statement.

On Monday (November 11) morning the country's state-backed newspapers spoke up, striking an optimistic tone about the future.

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

The Global Times is linked to the Party's official newspaper and can at times be a glimpse into the thinking of its leaders.

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.