Chinese President Xi Jinping will be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “guest of honor” for Moscow’s Victory Day celebration on Friday, revealing the close relationship between the two nations amid President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement “further deepening” their partnership following talks in Moscow Thursday – a show of solidarity in the face of global uncertainties unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s “America First” diplomacy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russia's Vladimir Putin on Thursday their two countries should be "friends of steel", as they pledged to boost cooperation to a new level at a time of heightened confrontation with the West.

The president said reducing tariffs to 80 percent from the current 145 percent “sounds right,” as U.S. and Chinese negotiators prepare to meet in Switzerland.

The meeting is the strongest sign yet that the world's two biggest economies are ready to de-escalate their trade war.