Both Putin and Xi have been close allies lately with several reasons being the cause. They have met about 13 times already since 2013 if memory serves me right, but both countries have worsening relationship with the US especially under Trump. Now Xi is set to be confirmed as a cult member of Maoism. Xi will be a long president, will the nature of Sino relations with these countries change?
the old adage, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" comes into play here. As you cited, both the Russians and the Chinese view the US as an enemy to their respective world views. Weakening that enemy is to the benefit of both, so one can see why they would "work together" to that end. Xi also realizes that for his longterm vision of Chinese power in Asia is threatened by Russia, so look to him to focus on (and oppose) Putin in the future - once he believes that the US has been sufficiently weakened.
It depends on the point of view...
When you look at a US thinktank, here is the view (https://globalsecurityreview.com/likely-china-will-enter-another-long-period-severe-dictatorship/).
However, the NYTimes does not entirely share it (see https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/world/asia/xi-jinping-thought-explained-a-new-ideology-for-a-new-era.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur).
And if you look at the MERIC report (https://www.merics.org/index.php/en/papers-on-china/chinas-emergence-global-security-actor-1) making recommendations for EU leaders, it will only reinforce / ease the current trends.
Taking into consideration President Trump's new NSS, it doesn't change anything: both Russia and China remain the designated competitors, the fact that President Putin remains in place and President Xi could secure a lifelong reign doesn't affect the US perception.
So: option 01 = status quo, option 02 = reinforcement of the current trends between the three players...
Let's hope we won't see some harsh tweets which could be devastating...
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