- The home rules of a few countries should not be imposed on others - Xi told more than 20 world leaders gathered at a two-day summit organized to highlight China's global leadership and its close and enduring partnership with Russia, while the two neighboring powers seek to reshape the global order in their favor, at the expense of the United States and its allies.

China and Russia want to reshape the world order

The fifth summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) - a regional security club founded by Moscow and Beijing - was held in the northern port of Tianjin and is China's biggest diplomatic event this year. It attracted political"heavyweights" including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. SCO members include Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

At the summit, Xi Jinping promised two billion yuan ($280 million) in grants to SCO member states this year, as well as an additional 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in loans to the SCO banking consortium over the next three years, all for the sake of"facilitating trade and investment."

Later in the day, Xi unveiled a new Global Governance Initiative, a continuation of his three earlier"initiatives" - on security, development and civilization - which together provide the framework for his vision of a reshaped international order.

- I am looking forward to cooperation with all countries to establish a fairer and more equal system of global governance. We must continue to tear down walls, not build them up; to strive for integration, not separation - said Xi, adding that he will practice multilateralism.

East vs. West

Xi's vision opposes what Beijing sees as the foundations of the US-led world order, opposing allies like NATO - which he sees as existing to enforce a Western rule-based system - and questioning the concept of universal human rights. China is now seeking to redistribute power within the United Nations and other bodies it sees as unfairly dominated by the West.

Although he did not directly mention the US, the Chinese leader vowed to oppose"hegemonicism","Cold War mentality" and "bullying practices" - these are terms Beijing often uses when criticizing Washington.

While Trump alarms nations with a global trade war, withdrawal from international organizations, cuts in foreign aid and threats on social media, Beijing views America as a country that is undermining the international order it helped build, and sees an opportunity to advance its own vision as an alternative.

Echoing Xi's words, Putin said the SCO is laying the foundations for a"new system" of security in Eurasia, presenting it as an alternative to the Western-led allies he has long fought against.

The new system, Putin said," would replace the outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, would take into account the interests of as wide a range of countries as possible, would be truly balanced and would not allow individual states to ensure their own security at the expense of others".

Beijing and Moscow strengthen ties

The summit served as a demonstration of the ever-tightening ties between China and Russia, as well as the friendship that the two authoritarian leaders have built over the years.

The deep personal connection between the two statesmen was evident on Sunday night, when Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a gala welcome dinner for the leaders attending the summit. A video released by Russia's state news agency RIA showed Xi and Putin smiling as they chatted at the event, revealing a different side of the normally reticent Chinese leader, as well as his warm and relaxed communication with his Russian counterpart.

The SCO summit was also the first opportunity for the two leaders to meet since Putin's summit with Trump in Alaska in August and came as Putin resists pressure from the West to end his invasion.

In his speech at the SCO summit, the Russian president repeated his theses about the war in Ukraine, saying that the crisis"did not arise as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, but as a result of a coup d'état in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West". He praised the efforts of China and India in mediating the resolution of the crisis and described the"understanding" reached with Trump at the meeting in Alaska as "opening the way to peace in Ukraine."

Observers assessed that the Russian leader used this gathering to show that he is not isolated on the global stage.

- Putin will try to present Russia's resilience and China's support as proof that Western sanctions and isolation have not produced results. At the same time, it will try to deepen strategic alignment with Beijing and show that Moscow has strong partners even as Washington increases pressure to end the war - said Li Mingjiang, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

The war in Ukraine is one of the topics

China has proven to be a key pillar of diplomatic and economic support for Vladimir Putin since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, even as it claims to be neutral in the conflict.

Chinese firms have bought vast quantities of Russian oil at discounted prices and provided it with key trade, including dual-use goods that Western leaders say have strengthened Russia's defense industrial base.

Trump threatened earlier this summer to lash out at that partnership, saying China could face heavy tariffs on its goods if it continues to buy fuel from Russia while waging war. This has not happened so far, but the US last week imposed such punitive measures on India.

Trump is losing India, Modi is getting closer to Xi

It was Trump's 50 percent tariffs that damaged his relations with Narendra Modi, but also accelerated the cautious process of rapprochement between New Delhi and Beijing. The Indian leader met Xi on Sunday, his first visit to China in seven years.

Modi and Putin also held an almost one-hour private meeting in the Russian presidential limousine "Aurus", on the way to formal talks, Russian state television reported.

- India and Russia have always stood side by side even in the most difficult times. We are constantly conducting a dialogue about the situation in Ukraine. We welcome all the recent efforts for peace - Modi said.

Military parade in China is coming up.

Xi Jinping is also preparing a large military parade on September 3, which will be a demonstration of Beijing's power. Analysts say Xi sees this military parade and the SCO summit as a diplomatic venture at a critical time.

The final list of guests at the parade is not yet known, and these are the names of the invited leaders:

• Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
• Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey
• Kim Jong Un, President of North Korea
• Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
• Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
• Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister Armenia
• Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus
• Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia

The North Korean leader left for Beijing on his special train. It is interesting that it will be the first time that Kim, who took power at the end of 2011, will attend a multilateral diplomatic event, according to the Yonhap agency and reminds that his grandfather and the founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, attended a military parade in Beijing in 1959.

Kim's presence at the military parade would be the basis for a possible, unprecedented, trilateral meeting with Putin and Xi Jinping.