Xi, Putin join forces against US in pledge for new era

• Putin and Xi cast US as Cold War hegemon.
• Pledge to deepen partnership in defence, trade.
• Say new era in Russian-Chinese ties is dawning.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have joined forces against the United States as its two most powerful rivals, pledging to kick-start a "new era" of partnership.

In their resolve to stand together against their western opponent, both nations had, in February 2022, declared a "no limits" partnership when Russia's Putin visited Beijing just days before sending thousands of troops to Ukraine.

Both Xi and Putin, on Thursday, were seen being hailed by marching soldiers of the People's Liberation Army outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and were honoured with a 21-gun salute on Tiananmen Square, Reuters reported.

The Chinese and Russian leaders signed a joint statement about the "new era", proclaiming their opposition to the US on a host of security issues.

In their landmark meeting, both heads of states a shared view on everything from Taiwan and Ukraine to North Korea and cooperation on new peaceful nuclear technologies and finance.

"The China-Russia relationship today is hard-earned, and the two sides need to cherish and nurture it," Xi told Putin.

"China is willing to ... jointly achieve the development and rejuvenation of our respective countries, and work together to uphold fairness and justice in the world."

Russia, waging war against NATO-supplied Ukrainian forces, and China, under pressure from a concerted U.S. effort to counter its growing military and economic strength, increasingly have found common geopolitical cause.

Xi has told Putin the two have the chance to drive changes the world has not seen in a century, which many analysts see as an attempt to challenge a US-led global order.

Their governments, pushing back against perceived humiliations of the 1991 Soviet collapse and centuries of European colonial dominance of China, have sought to portray the West as decadent and in decline, with China challenging U.S. supremacy in everything from quantum computing and synthetic biology to espionage and hard military power.

But China and Russia face their own challenges, including a slowing Chinese economy and an emboldened and expanding NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Washington casts Beijing as its biggest competitor and Moscow as its biggest nation-state threat.

— Additional input by Reuters