Donald Trump, center, during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Photo: VCG

As US Republican candidate Donald Trump declared victory in the 2024 US presidential election on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry congratulated Trump on being elected as president of the US and said "we respect the choice of the American people."

Trump has won in utterly divisive, costly US election amid deep public concerns, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Multiple major US media outlets projected on Wednesday that Trump has won enough Electoral College votes and will be the next president of the US, the report said.

"We respect the choice of the American people and congratulate Mr. Trump on being elected as president of the United States," Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.  

As for how will the result of the election affect China's foreign policy or China-US relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning noted that China will continue to view and handle our bilateral relations under the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

Earlier in the day, Trump took the stage at West Palm Beach County Convention Center in the US state of Florida to speak to supporters and declare victory, the Xinhua News Agency report said. 

Trump promised "to help our country heal," adding that the US-Mexico borders will be fixed, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"It's a political victory that our country has never seen before," Trump said, thanking the American people "for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president." Trump was the president preceding the incumbent 46th US president, Democrat Joe Biden, the Xinhua report added.

Trump's remarks came as most US media outlets put his Electoral College vote tally at either 266 or 267, after calling the crucial battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania for him. Among them, Georgia and Pennsylvania are states that Trump flipped from four years ago, when Biden carried them, reported Xinhua.

Trump's opponent, Democratic candidate and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris, is expected to call Trump later on Wednesday local time to concede and is expected to speak publicly, NBC quoted two Harris aides as saying, China Central Television reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday after the US Republican presidential candidate declared victory, Xinhua reported.

"Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity," Macron wrote on social media platform X, according to Xinhua.

Macron said he also spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Trump's election night speech addressing supporters. France and Germany "will work for a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context, by cooperating with the United States of America and defending our interests and our values," Macron wrote on .

Alongside the presidential race, several US media outlets projected that the Republican Party would regain control of the US Senate early Wednesday after flipping two seats from the Democratic Party, Xinhua reported.

According to Xinhua, the election, widely regarded as one of the most divisive in American history, has caused deep concern among voters. According to an annual survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 77 percent of US adults said the future of the nation was a significant source of stress in their lives. Additionally, 74 percent said they were worried that the election results could lead to violence.

"The US is now more divided along ideological and political lines than at any time since the 1850s," said Bruce Stokes, an associate fellow at Chatham House. "America's friends and allies need to understand that the United States has become a Disunited States. There are effectively two Americas -- and they are at war," the Xinhua report said.

It has also become one of the most contentious and costly campaigns in US history, the report added. According to OpenSecrets, political spending across major-party campaigns, related political action committees (PACs), and other groups is projected to reach a record 15.9 billion US dollars, with deep involvement of US billionaires.

Xinhua-Global Times