CHINA/JAPAN:ASIAN POWERHOUSES Japan and China gave a resoundingly positive welcome to the election of Barack Obama, saying his victory would boost efforts to combat the financial crisis.
"The Japan-US alliance is key to Japanese diplomacy and it is the foundation for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," said Japan's prime minister Taro Aso.
"With president-elect Obama, I will strengthen the Japan-US alliance further and work towards resolving global issues such as the world economy, terror and the environment," he said.
Residents of the fishing town of Obama in Japan were overjoyed that their famous namesake had won the vote, and said they hoped he would visit.
On the streets of Beijing there was an enthusiastic welcome for a president-elect seen who is seen to be in a position to boost US-Chinese relations and to help resolve the global financial crisis.
"Obama can handle the economy better than Bush, he is more open to new things and he won't start a war somewhere," said secretary Hu Feimin (26).
China is not a democracy, most people have never voted and it is run as a single-party state by the Communist Party, but there has been keen interest in the election.
The Beijing leadership is anxious to ensure that change in the world's most powerful country does not harm China's interests.
"America has changed colour, it's good. Now I hope to see practical progress in future relations between China and America," said Liu Chenbing (32) an engineer from Shanxi province.
"What I hope for most is that America can do something good for unification with Taiwan and that the American financial crisis can be dealt with quickly," he said.
President George Bush is popular in China, but state media ran resoundingly positive coverage of Mr Obama's win, suggesting the official view on him is this is a president the Chinese leadership can do business with. State broadcaster CCTV hailed his Confucian qualities of filial piety and his strong family values.
Pundits hailed the incoming president as a positive symbol of change of the US.
"In the last 30 years, the relationship between China and the USA has come a long way. I believe the new government will continue to strengthen the co-operation between China and the USA," said Tao Wenzhao, an American studies researcher at the influential Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Shen Tianhong (25), who works at a property management company, was surprised by the result.
"I thought white people dominated America and the presidency. But it's a good decision," she said. "This is better for the world. And Obama can handle the American financial crisis more quickly, so that is good for China."
Zou Qinyue, manager of a Sichuan restaurant, focused on the economic aspect.
"Black or white, he must have something special to become president. I hope the economy stabilises, because then the global economy will stabilise." Some young people learned what they know about US politics from watching US TV shows.
"The funny thing is that in 24, there is a black president also. A black president can do good in his presidency, just like David Palmer," said student Zhu Ming.