Despite Obama's repeated criticism of China's alleged manipulation of its currency, most experts say the next US president will further boost trade and investment between the two nations. And closer collaboration between the two countries will prove particularly important for both countries to cope with the current global financial turmoil.

Just rhetoric?

Even before his victory, Obama's hawkish stance on Sino-US trade aroused concern among Chinese observers.

Obama outlined his China policy in the October 2008 issue of the American Chamber of Commerce in China's China Brief magazine. Being concerned about job losses in the Unitted States, he indicated that he would "use all the diplomatic avenues" to seek a change in China's currency practices, which he claims give the nation's exporters an unfair advantage.

In previous comments to the US National Council of Textile Organizations, he also vowed to step up the fight against unfair trade practices and increase funding to America's primary trade watchdog, the Office of the US Trade Representative.

The world's fourth-largest economy is now running a massive surplus with the United States. In 2007, it surpassed Japan to become the second-largest trading partner of the US, but the US has a record 256.3 billion trading deficit with China.

"There may be more skirmishes about the renminbi exchange rate at the beginning of the Obama administration," says Shen Dingli, a professor of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. "But a further rise in the yuan may be a difficult choice for the Chinese government at the moment."

Since China scrapped the peg between the renminbi and the US dollar, the currency has gained about 20 percent against the greenback. In recent months, it has also appreciated against the euro, the currency of China's biggest trading partners. This has already pushed up the prices of Chinese exports, which led to the closure of thousands of factories in coastal areas.

Still, most observers tend to associate Obama's criticism of China with his efforts to appeal to blue-collar voters in swing states, who have been the victims of globalizaiton.