BEIJING -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held talks here Monday, with pressing global issues such as the weapons crises in Iraq and North Korea on the agenda.

Coming on the heels of a leadership transition in China last month, analysts said Putin would be looking for confirmation that China's strategic partnership with Russia would remain in tact.

With Russian flags flying high on Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing and a military band playing the Russian national anthem, Jiang gave Putin a formal welcome inside the Great Hall of the people before the two leaders headed into talks.

Right afterward, Putin and Jiang were scheduled to attend a ceremony to sign a broad declaration outlining their convergence of views on many foreign issues, AFP reported.

Talks between Putin and Chinese leaders are expected to focus on China's recent change in leadership, economic cooperation, Iraq, North Korea, and their joint efforts to counter U.S. influence in world affairs.

Putin will be keen to push forward Russia's idea of constructing a powerful Asian axis with China and India capable of standing up to the United States on the international stage.

Both China and Russia have improved relations with Washington since the September 11 attacks in 2001 by giving firm backing to the U.S.-led war on terror, but both countries also remain wary of U.S. power.

Commenting on the recent entry of seven former Eastern bloc states into NATO, Putin said in an interview with Chinese media that a political-military bloc such as NATO should not be expanding in the current climate.

He said the expansion of NATO would do nothing to stem the threats of international terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The issue of Iraq was likely to feature prominently in the talks, a subject on which the two countries have strong differences with the United States.

Both Russia and China have demanded that any military strike on Iraq over its suspected banned weapons programs be backed by the United Nations Security Council, where both countries hold veto power.

The two countries also have strong relations with North Korea, which is currently involved in a stand-off with the United States over its suspected nuclear weapons program.

Chinese officials said North Korea would be raised during the talks.

In addition to meeting Jiang, Putin also will meet Monday with Vice-President Hu Jintao, who replaced Jiang as head of the Communist Party last month and is expected to take over as president in March.

Putin will be the first major world leader to meet Hu since he was unveiled as the new head of China's Communist Party on November 15.

A host of younger leaders also replaced six of China's seven top leaders in the party hierarchy.

Both countries will also seek to increase economic cooperation during the visit, especially in the energy and military procurement fields.

Energy-hungry China needs Russian supplies of gas and oil, as well as relatively advanced military it cannot produce itself.

China-Russia trade had grown rapidly in the past three years.

Bilateral trade exceeded 10 billion dollars for the first time in 2001 and was expected to be more than 12 billion dollars this year.

Caption: Russian President Putin (L)chats with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.