China congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on winning the United States presidential election, ending days of speculation about when Beijing would formally acknowledge the victory, Bloomberg reports.

“We have been following the reaction on this US presidential election from both within the United States and from the international community,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a briefing in Beijing on Friday.

“We respect the American people’s choice and extend congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris,” Wenbin added.

China’s acknowledgement came after multiple television networks projected Biden would defeat Donald Trump in Arizona, one the major states where Trump has looked to overturn the election.

Prior to now, China, Russia and Mexico were among the few countries that had withheld their comments eventhough major world leaders had congratulated the Biden and Harris for defeating the Republican candidate

 “We understand that the result of the US presidential election will be determined following the US laws and procedures,” Wenbin noted

US-China ties have grown increasingly strained in recent years under the Trump administration and relations are as icy as at any time since formal ties were established four decades ago.

Trump’s four years in the White House have been marked by a costly trade war between the two powers, with Beijing and Washington also sparring over blame for the Covid-19 pandemic and China’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

Under his “America First” banner, Trump has portrayed China as the greatest threat to the United States and global democracy.