Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart yesterday on a visit aimed at bolstering a crucial alliance, with the two neighbours set on blocking international action against Syria.

Putin told Hu Jintao ties between the two nations had reached "new heights" as he kicked off the three-day China visit, his first to Asia since starting an historic third term last month.

Both the countries pledged to increase their cooperation in the United Nations and other important organisations.

China's President Hu Jintao said closer cooperation would allow the two countries, whose stance has angered Western powers, to "set the global political and economic order in a more fair and rational direction".

"We plan to increase cooperation in the framework of leading international organisations -- the United Nations, G20, BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation," Putin told reporters after the talks.

Beijing and Moscow have walked in lockstep on Syria to the anger of Arab and Western nations, with EU president Herman Van Rompuy telling Putin in Russia on Monday that world powers needed to "find common messages on which we agree".

Putin has been keen to play up the importance of Russia's at-times uneasy ties with China, which have grown stronger in the past year as both used their veto power on the UN Security

Council to block action against Damascus.

"Through the sustained efforts of both sides, the Russia-China overall strategic cooperative partnership relationship has attained new heights," he told Hu.

China's foreign ministry spokesman LiuWeimin told reporters Tuesday that both Beijing and Moscow were united on Syria, opposing foreign intervention and forced regime change in the conflict-ridden country.

The two nations had periodic border conflicts and viewed each other with suspicion in Soviet times, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared this weekend that Russia had an exemplary partnership with China on foreign policy.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said last week the two countries planned to sign 17 diplomatic and business agreements that should help support booming trade, which reached $80 billion (64 billion euros)