US president-elect Donald Trump has been urged to take his predecessor's warnings on the one-China principle seriously, to prevent further conflict between the two countries next year.

In his last news conference of the year on Friday, President Barack Obama cautioned Trump against challenging Beijing on the Taiwan question, saying that it could lead to serious consequences for bilateral relations.

The status quo has kept the peace and allowed the Taiwan people to enjoy successful economic development and a high degree of self-determination, he said.

His remarks came five days after Trump told Fox News he did not feel "bound by a one-China policy" and about two weeks after he broke four decades of diplomatic precedent by talking on the phone with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen.

Under the decades-old policy, China has recognized Taiwan is its own entity and does things its own way, while Taiwan has agreed that, with some autonomy, it would not declare independence, Obama said.

"There's probably no bilateral relationship that carries more significance (than the United States and China), and where there's also the potential if that relationship breaks down or goes into a full conflict mode that everybody's worse off," he added.

Li Haidong, a professor of American studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said Obama's warning was not groundless, as China will "definitely take countermeasures" in economic, trade and regional affairs if Trump keeps challenging the one-China principle.

However, he said Trump, who has no diplomatic experience, is likely to turn a deaf ear to such suggestions as he is being influenced by conservative advisers who see China as a threat.

The China-US relationship will probably see a period of turbulence for at least a year until Trump "eats bitter fruit" for provoking China, Li said, adding that there could be more friction in other areas, such as China's seizure of a US underwater drone in the South China Sea on Saturday.

Zhou Zhihuai, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Taiwan Studies, said Obama's comments were in line with the "one China, two systems" framework, under which Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao enjoy a high degree of autonomy.

It would take a long time to resolve the Taiwan question, and any suggestion of "Taiwan Independence" will never be tolerated by the mainland, he added.

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