The foreign ministers of China and North Korea on Monday agreed to deepen bilateral ties to resist "all forms of hegemonism," in a thinly veiled reference to their pushback against the US.

The meeting between China's Wang Yi and North Korea's Choe Son Gui in Beijing comes weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a massive military parade in the Chinese capital, hosted by China's President Xi Jinping.

What did the ministers say?

"Maintaining, consolidating, and developing" bilateral relations between Beijing and Pyongyang "has always been the unswerving strategic policy" of the Chinese government, Wang said. 

"China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with [North Korea] in international and regional affairs, oppose all forms of hegemonism, and safeguard the common interests of both sides and international fairness and justice," he said, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout.

Meanwhile, North Korea's state news agency said the ministers had agreed on a variety of issues.

The agency quoted Choe as saying that North Korea "is willing to closely cooperate with China in multilateral affairs, jointly resist unilateralism and power politics and promote a fairer and more just world order."

United against the States

Both China and North Korea view the US as an adversary. Washington and Beijing are economic and strategic rivals, whose ties have become more strained over US President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies.

The US views Pyongyang, meanwhile, as a threat to regional stability because of its nuclear weapons program.

Washington has consistently demanded North Korea give up its nuclear weapons, while Pyongyang says it needs the weapons to defend against threats from the US and its allies, namely South Korea and Japan.

China has long maintained influence over North Korea as its biggest trading partner and aid benefactor. However, bilateral relations cooled over the last few years as Pyongyang focused on expanding cooperation with Russia, supplying it with troops and ammunitions for its war in Ukraine.

Experts say Kim now wants to reinforce his ties with China in preparation for the eventual end of the war in Ukraine.

China is likely to send a delegation to North Korea next month for the 80th founding anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party. 

Edited by: Karl Sexton