Yul Kwon:
Although Monday's debate wasn't broadcast on Chinese television, it was on available on the Internet. And quite a few Chinese viewers tuned in and posted their reactions on Sina Weibo and other social media sites. Here's our contributor in Beijing, Nicole Sy.

Nicole Sy:
After a heavy China-bashing session in the second debate, folks in China were a little bit more than guarded about Monday's debate. Taking to Chinese microblogging platform, Sina Weibo, netizens let loose a stream of thoughts on what they thought of the two candidates, making 'US Presidential Elections' and 'Barack Obama' the top two trending topics a day after the debate.

Google China president with a following of over 17 million, Kai-fu Lee posted:
"Look at Obama turn around his performance on the first debate, it looks like his chances of winning the election are great!"

Another user posts:
"I think Obama will win the election since there is nothing special with Romney. He said he will call China a currency manipulator, it will be hard to win, [and] attract voters by being extreme."

Others disagreed, with one user posting :
"In terms of governing ideology, Romney is a cut above Obama!"

An informal poll on Sina Weibo asked users who they thought would emerge the victor of the debate and an overwhelming majority supported Obama on the blue side: votes for him outnumbering Romney's 3 to 1.

Obama supporters posted:
"I support Obama. ... Obama is an acceptable president for China. To say the least, we know his basic working style."

While Romney supporters posted:
"I choose Romney. He's conservative in his views and understands the economy."
And in the midst of the politics, netizens also enjoyed pointing out the necktie choices of each candidate.

As one user said:
"It's an important element of image management."

For LinkAsia, this is Nicole Sy in Beijing.

Yul Kwon:
Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center surveyed Chinese opinion about the election. The survey didn't ask about Romney, but it did show that confidence in Obama's leadership fell from 62 percent in 2009 to just 38 percent this year. However, the percentage of people who said that they liked American-style democracy rose from 48 percent in 2007 to 52 percent this year. Clearly, they haven't been bombarded with political ads like we have.