Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S. November 4, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Finance Minister Shi Yaobin said on Thursday that U.S. election victor Donald Trump should be aware of the benefits of economic co-operation with China, after Trump had campaigned to take on the world’s No.2 economy.

Speaking at a news conference in London, Shi described Trump’s pledges to challenge China as rhetoric to win the election and that it remained to be seen whether he would deliver on them.

“I want to emphasize that long-standing economic cooperation between China and the U.S, particularly in the economic areas, this cooperation has yielded win-win benefits for the Chinese people and American people,” Shi said through a translator.

“I think these facts should be recognized by the president-elect and also by the people of the two countries.”

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to tax Chinese imports to stop currency devaluation.