Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulated President Bush on his re-election, saying that since Mr Bush had been in power, Sino-US relations had made a lot of progress, but the popular reaction on the streets of Beijing was less enthusiastic.
"I look forward to continuing to work together with you to further promote the development of the constructive co-operative relations between China and the United States," Mr Hu said in the message. The Chinese have mixed feelings about America. On the one hand they see it as the land of opportunity and a global trendsetter, but on the other they resent its power.
An editorial by former foreign minister Qian Qichen in an influential state-run newspaper, reprinted in the China Daily the day before the US election, accused Mr Bush of trying to dominate the world by force. The government later played down the significance of the message.
Chinese people also have mixed feelings about Mr Bush. His father, George Bush snr, was US ambassador here, and therefore extremely popular. However, among the people he is known as Xiao Bu Shi, which means Junior or Little Bush, and is a derogatory nickname. And some of his policies, particularly on Iraq, are not popular.
A commentary run by the Xinhua news agency gave a qualified welcome to Mr Bush's re-election, saying he only won because of the war.
"By defending his decision to launch the Iraq war, President George W. Bush has taken pains to connect the Iraq effort with the war on terrorism, although the United States has failed to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. By constantly reminding Americans that the country is still at war, the incumbent President wins the hard-fought election," said the editorial.
Wu Tong, a student at Peking University, said she didn't think Sino-US relations would change drastically.
"At least it won't be any better. In my opinion the direction of US policy seems to be to curb the development of China."