By MICHAEL R. GORDON

MOSCOW, April 24, 1997 (New York Times) -- President Boris Yeltsin of Russia and President Jiang Zemin of China pledged on Wednesday to work together to limit American power and influence in the world.

In a summit meeting at the start of a five-day state visit that was laden

with political symbolism, the two leaders did not single-out the United States by name. But their message, aimed in part at a Russian public that has been bombarded with alarmist reports about NATO expansion and the U.S. role as the sole remaining superpower, was clear.

"No country should seek hegemony, practice power politics or monopolize international affairs," said a Russian-Chinese statement on the need for a "multipolar world."

"It is meant to be a political statement that there is no master of the universe," observed a senior Western official. "These countries are searching for ways to tie down American power. Their goal is to insure that America cannot act unilaterally."

Even without talk of NATO expansion, Russia and China have many reasons to cooperate, particularly over the short-run, as the two countries are experiencing their warmest ties in years.

China has emerged as a lucrative market for Russian arms makers whose factories have received few orders from a shrinking Russian military. Indeed, trade between the two nations increased by 25 percent last year, much of it military.

The two nations also have a 4,000-mile frontier and a common interest in avoiding tensions there. They plan to sign an agreement on Thursday limiting the number of troops near the border and improving cooperation between them in the hope of preventing any incidents.

"We are simply doomed to develop strategic relations with China," Vladimir Lukin, the head of the Parliament's foreign affairs committee said in an interview. "We are close neighbors and would like to survive."

But it is also true that domestic politics makes the idea, if not the reality, of strategic cooperation appealing.

For Russian politicians, improving ties with China has emerged as a way to play to a weary public that is increasingly convinced that the end of the Cold War left the West with the upper hand.

As NATO has proceeded with its plans to expand, Kremlin officials have held a series of highly publicized meetings with Iranian, Indian, Belorussian and Chinese officials. Each meeting has triggered articles about an emerging new alignment to counter the West's economic and military might.

For the Chinese, the Moscow meetings provide an opportunity for Jiang to take the world stage after the death of China's ultimate leader, Deng Xiaoping.

In terms of foreign policy, China is also trying to play Moscow and Washington against each other, and evade the pressures to make political reforms or improve its human rights situation at home.

Russian Defense Minister Igor Rodionov promised during a visit to China this month that Russia would oppose attempts in the West "to use so-called problems of human rights, Tibet and Taiwan to put pressure on China."

Still, for all of the posturing, most Russians concede that it is premature to speak of a full-fledged alliance or strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing.

"There are obvious limitations and divergences of interests," said Sergei Rogov, the head of the USA-Canada Institute, a research group that studies relations with the West. "For China, Taiwan is the number-one priority. For Russia, it is not a priority at all.

"For Russia, participation in the European system is the primary issue," Rogov added. "But China is not involved in the post-Cold War European system."

Other analysts note that for all Russia and China's complaints against Washington, both nations look to the West for long-term infusions of technology and investment. Many of the current economic links between Russia and China reflect short-term Russian efforts to prop up ailing arms plants and generate trade.

"What Russia needs is massive technology and investment, and they are not going to get that from the Chinese," said a Western official. "Russia wants to exploit the option of close relations with China in negotiations with the West, whether it is the issue of NATO enlargement, or economic demands for more World Bank money or requests to be integrated into various global organizations, such as the World Trade Organization."

The meetings on Wednesday were full of pomp and circumstance. The Chinese leader spoke to Russia's Communist-dominated Parliament. He also plans to visit the former estate of the writer Leo Tolstoy, 130 miles south of Moscow, before concluding his visit.

A June visit to China by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is planned.

In the meantime, Moscow and China keep to the refrain that international politics is now based on several major power centers and that the West is not calling all the shots, as if their populations may come to accept the point if it is repeated enough.

"Someone is longing for a single-polar world," Yeltsin said at a joint news conference, alluding to the West, as he stood next to the Chinese leader on Wednesday. "He wants to decide things himself."