President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping signed a joint declaration on Wednesday focused on building a “multipolar world,” sending a defiant signal to the U.S. just days after President Donald Trump concluded a visit to Beijing without any major deals.
The declaration was among 20 agreements signed in the presence of both leaders at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, with an additional 20 documents expected to be announced separately.
“We’ll expand our bilateral cooperation and actively engage in international forums where our teams are working closely together to build a strong foundation for a multipolar world,” Putin said during the talks.
Xi held up Russian-Chinese relations as a “model” for relations between two major powers. In a veiled swipe at the United States, Xi warned of “unilateral and hegemonic countercurrents running rampant.”
His remarks come just a week after Trump paid a three-day visit to Beijing. Despite promising sweeping trade deals ahead of that trip, Trump departed China without having made substantive announcements alongside Xi.
