China, a country Governor Mitt Romney said he would label as a "currency manipulator", was one of the first to offer its congratulations.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters that the country's leaders had already been in contact with President Obama.



"President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao sent messages of congratulations to President Obama on his being re-elected president of the United States," he said.

China is due to induct its own new leadership at the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday. The actual composition of the party's all-powerful Standing Committee has been shrouded in secrecy, in stark contrast to U.S. elections.

(Read More: Chinese Left in the Dark Over New Leaders)

In Israel, another country that became a key foreign policy topic during the campaign, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his congratulations to Obama on his re-election.



"The strategic alliance between Israel and the United States is stronger than ever," he said in a statement, adding he was due to meet with U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro later in the day.



"I will continue to work with President Obama in order to assure the interests that are vital to the security of the citizens of Israel."



According to campaign group iVoteIsrael, 85 percent of American-Israelis in the country that were registered to vote opted for the Republican candidate who had visited Israel in the lead up to the election.

(Read More: Having dispatched Romney, Obama faces Iran, Syria)



Romney had attacked Obama during campaigning for having a weak policy on the Middle East.



"Israel needs clarity in order to make a clearer judgment on how to act vis-a-vis the threat it sees from Iran," Simon Quijano-Evans, EMEA strategist from ING Bank said in a research note after the results came in.



"We are likely to see an increase in U.S.-Iran rhetoric, given the lack of tangible progress in negotiations."

A Russian news agency relayed President Vladimir Putin's own message. Putin, who was recently re-elected as leader himself, said he hoped it would have a positive impact on ties with the United States. His foreign minister Sergei Lavrov also spoke to the RIA news agency.



"We will continue to work with this administration," he said. "We are ready, on the basis of mutual equality, mutual profit and mutual respect ... to go as far as the U.S. administration is willing to go."

In Europe, a continent still struggling with its own debt crisis, France's Francois Hollande, Germany's Angela Merkel and the U.K.'s David Cameron all sent congratulatory messages.



"Warm congratulations to my friend Barack Obama," Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on social media site Twitter. "Look forward to continuing to work together."

(Read More: Athens Starts Countdown to Bailout Deal)



Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg and President of the Euro Group, Jean-Claude Juncker, was positive that the second term for Obama would mean a better working environment with the U.S.



"I do think independent from the persons involved, it's always easier to establish a closer work relationship with the U.S. President when he's starting his second mandate," he told reporters at a conference in Singapore.

"During his first mandate the President is normally focusing on turbulent domestic issues," he said citing the examples of Bill Clinton and George Bush.



Australia's Julia Gillard also sent her best wishes as did India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, South Korea's President Lee Myung-Bak, Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.



Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he hoped that the re-elected President would continue in his efforts to bolster respect between the U.S. and Muslims around the world.



"As a moderate Muslim nation, Malaysia stands ready to help the United States as it seeks to better engage with those of Islamic faith," he said in statement.



Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim also spoke out urging Obama to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.



"To fulfill his promise of not turning his back on the Palestinian aspiration for dignity and a state of their own, President Obama must do more," he said in a statement.