What does Russia and China’s anti-American alliance mean in practice?

Besides avoiding the impact of Western sanctions over Ukraine, what is the benefit of the Putin-Xi partnership? John Rentoul looks at what the leaders agreed

Song and dance: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping attend a concert celebrating 75 years of relations between Russia and China (Pool/AFP/Getty)

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Xi Jinping, his Chinese opposite number and host, agreed on Thursday to deepen their “strategic partnership” while accusing the United States of trying to “violate the strategic balance” in world affairs.

They issued a 7,000-word joint statement full of coded references to Russian and Chinese leadership of the world against attempts by the US to assert its hegemony over regions of the world that it ought to stay out of.

The document talks about “the deepening of the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation entering a new era”, and says that Russia and China “are determined to defend their legitimate rights and interests, resist any attempts to hinder the normal development of bilateral ties, interfere in the internal affairs of the two states, and limit the economic, technological or foreign policy potential of Russia and China”.