Russian Security Council chief Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that their two countries' most urgent task should be countering "containment" by the United States.
Speaking to Wang in Beijing, Shoigu stressed the need for China and Russia to "counter the 'dual containment' policy directed against Russia and China by the United States and its satellites."
"The comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation [between China and Russia] represent a model of collaboration between two powers in today's world," he told the Chinese foreign minister.
"Although it is not a military-political alliance like those formed during the Cold War, the relations between our countries surpass this form of interstate relations," Shoigu said, as quoted by Russian news agencies.
Wang affirmed the strength of Beijing's relationship with Moscow, saying China-Russia ties have "withstood the test of [changing] international circumstances and have always maintained a momentum of healthy and stable development."
"The more complex the international situation and the more external challenges there are, the more important it is for both sides to solidify unity and cooperate to defend common interests," Wang told Shoigu, according to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry.
Shoigu is expected to attend this week's Airshow China, which showcases Beijing's civil and military aerospace sector every two years in the southern city of Zhuhai. Russia's most advanced jet, the Su-57 stealth fighter, made a display flight at the show.
Moscow and Beijing have expanded military and defense ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Chinese President Xi Jinping one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most important allies on the world stage.
But Beijing has also found itself increasingly stuck in the middle of a burgeoning alliance between Russia and North Korea, which has sent soldiers to Russia and this week ratified a landmark defense treaty with Moscow.
Last month, Russia's and China's defense ministers pledged to deepen bilateral military cooperation.
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