Xi made the comments during a meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Beijing, where he said that China is willing to work with Azerbaijan to safeguard the international system and carry out “in depth” law enforcement and security cooperation with the Azerbaijan side.

“China is ready to work with the Azerbaijan side to uphold the international system with the UN at its core…and safeguard international fairness and justice,” Xinhua said.

The two leaders announced “the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Azerbaijan”.

It included the signing of 20 cooperation documents as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in areas including legal, green development, digital economy, intellectual property rights, and aerospace.

Bordering Iran, Russia, Georgia and Armenia, Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to support China’s BRI initiative.

It was launched in 2013 by Xi as a way to extend China’s geopolitical and economic influence through a global infrastructure development push.