Ukraine's Yanukovych meets China's President Xi

Beijing (AFP) - Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych met China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing Thursday, while opposition street protests continue at home in the nation's worst political crisis in a decade.

Yanukovych said that China and Ukraine were working to build a "bright future", while Xi described him as "an old friend of the Chinese people" and called for further cooperation between the two countries.

"We have discussed questions of stepping up our strategic partnership and a shift to practical implementation of a whole number of joint projects in various industries," Yanukovych said in a statement

The meeting came as a senior US diplomat said that Washington supports the Ukrainians protesting for a future in Europe.

Yanukovych's last-minute decision to scrap a key political and trade pact with the European Union and the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators sparked the largest protests in the ex-Soviet nation since the pro-democracy 2004 Orange Revolution.

Yanukovych's administration survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday over the issue, but the opposition and demonstrators are now demanding his resignation.

In his statement, Yanukovych said Kiev and Beijing plan to focus on aircraft and shipbuilding, agriculture, energy and infrastructure projects for which Ukraine will receive around $8 billion in investments.

Yanukovych kicked off his China visit in Xian on Wednesday, where he toured the World Heritage site housing the Terracotta Warriors, buried in the 3rd century BC by China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang to guard his tomb.