Republican George W. Bush officially won the US presidential election as his opponent, Democratic Party candidate Senator John Kerry, called him to concede defeat Wednesday.
   
From his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts Kerry congratulated Bush in a short telephone conversation, telling him that divisions in the country would need to be healed. Bush agreed, calling Kerry a worthy, tough and honorable opponent, according to reports.

Kerry's call came after it became clear that Bush was assured of victory in the remaining key battleground state of Ohio, giving the president an unquestioned majority of Electoral College votes.

Both Bush and Kerry will make statements later in the day, according to US TV networks. Kerry's speech is scheduled at 1 PM EST and Bush will deliver a statement at 3 PM EST.
   
Previously two major television networks, Fox and NBC, had projected that Bush had won Ohio, but three others said the result was too close to call as counting continued.

At that time the Kerry camp announced that they would refuse to concede defeat until every Ohio vote had been counted. "We will fight for every vote," Senator John Edwards, Kerry's running mate, told supporters in Boston. "We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night."

This had raised fears of post-election legal wrangles, but once it was apparent that their cause was lost Kerry appeared to supporters saying, "The outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process."

Americans do not directly choose their president. Instead, after ballots are counted in each state, state representatives called electors vote on the basis of the state tallies in an Electoral College, a system that has operated since 1788. There are 538 electors and a minimum of 270 electoral votes is needed to win.

Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a congratulatory message to Bush today, expressing his hope to work together with him to push forward Sino-US relations.
  
Since Bush assumed the presidency, China and the US have made significant progress in cooperation in various fields, bringing substantial benefits to both countries and playing a positive role in promoting peace and development in Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, Hu said in the message.
  
"Both China and the United States are great countries and share a wide range of common interests and basis for cooperation," Hu said.
  
Meanwhile, Vice President Zeng Qinghong also sent a message to Richard Cheney to congratulate him on being reelected US vice president.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2004)