MOSCOW (AP) – China’s new president received a lavish welcome Friday as he made Moscow his first foreign destination, joining with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a pointed attempt to counter U.S. influence in Asia.

Xi Jinping, who became president just last week, urged Russia to improve its foreign policy coordination to protect the two neighbors’ joint security interests – comments that appeared to seek Russia’s backing for his eagerness to reduce U.S. influence and challenge Japan over a set of disputed islands.

Xi was greeted by Putin at a grandiose reception that saw guards on horseback welcoming a foreign leader for the first time in recent memory. The pomp underlined just how close ties between the two Cold War-era rivals have become through aspirations to curtail U.S. power around the world.