China's President Xi Jinping on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on his US presidential election victory and expressed hope that both sides can "find the right way to get along in the new era."

Xi called for strengthened dialogue between both powers to properly manage differences and said the international community would expect them to "respect each other (and) co-exist peacefully."

The US-China rivalry has intensified since Trump was first elected in 2016. With Trump's return to the White House, experts say tensions between the two sides could further escalate in the coming years.

"Although Trump may be less inclined towards military conflict, he is quite suspicious of China in other areas, even harboring a certain degree of hostility," said Chong Ja Ian, a political science associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

Such hostility is expected to be particularly evident in Sino-US trade wars, as analysts warn of potential "shocks" caused by Trump's economic policy.

"There's going to be probably big shifts in how the US engages with the rest of the world, including maybe first of all with China," said Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director of the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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If Trump follows through........

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