Russia and China signed a cybersecurity agreement on May 8, saying they will not conduct cyberattacks against each other. The deal also said the two would work together to counteract technologies they perceive as destabilizing to their internal affairs.

The text of the agreement is posted on the Russian government’s website. It says the two nations also agreed to share information between law enforcement agencies. In addition, they will freely exchange technologies and work together toward security of their information infrastructure. Oleg Demidov, a cybersecurity consultant at the pir Center, said the deal was an “important step” for the two nations. He said it accelerates Russia’s “pivoting to the East.”

This cybersecurity deal is only the latest indication of a Russia-China axis that is congealing fast. This axis is reorienting 21st-century geopolitics—and tilting the advantage away from the West.

“The two longtime foes have drawn increasingly close together because of a confluence of geostrategic, political and economic interests—all of which have a common theme of diminishing, subverting or displacing American power,” wrote Douglas E. Schoen and Melik Kaylan in their new book, The Russia-China Axis.

To understand why the blossoming relationship between Russia and China is important, read “The Russia-China Axis Is Here.”