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Last Sunday, Members of China's ruling Communist Party met for the 20th Party Congress on Tiananmen Square to outline development priorities for both domestic and foreign policy, as well as to elect top party leadership. The congress will last until October 22 to be attended by some 2.3 thousand delegates representing 96.7 million party members.

Right after the congress ends, a plenum of the CPC Central Committee is set to take place to consider party leader candidacies. Experts are sure there will be no surprises here, and it is the country’s current leader who will take up the post. For the first time in Chinese history a person will be elected for the third successive five-year term. And President Xi Jinping, 69, seems ready to valiantly enter the second decade of his rule of the country with a history of five millennia.

Therefore, his opening speech on October 16 was of utmost importance and interest. Xi Jinping has defined China’s key tasks amid the increasingly unfavorable external and internal factors. As demonstrated by his speech, the world’s second-strongest superpower after the United States (some even think the first) has its back to the wall. Washington exerts too much pressure on Beijing, threatening it with severe sanctions. The country's economy started losing traction, with its pace on a noticeable decrease. Add to this the crisis around Taiwan fraught with a direct military confrontation with the United States.

Most of Xi Jinping's speech was devoted to the country’s domestic situation. This time, the congress pledged neither communism nor wealth to the current generation of people inhabiting the Celestial Empire, but safety and magnitude of their motherland. And in order to protect its national interests, China will keep modernizing the armed force. According to the Chinese President, the state will focus on making the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) one of the world’s strongest by 2027.

Xi Jinping drew individual attention to combating corruption by the toughest and most ruthless methods. A major purpose for the state is still to improve the personal income fair distribution system. At the same time, the CPC Secretary General made it clear that by 2049, the year marking the 100th anniversary of the PRC, China should be "developed into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful."

Xi Jinping did not devote much time to the international agenda – it only ranked 14th in his speech. Individual countries were not mentioned at all, just like during the previous congresses. In this regard, the audience could only guess which country any particular phrase belonged to. At the same time, the Chinese leader claimed Beijing would never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism. China does not accept Cold War mentality, interference in other countries’ internal affairs or double standards, he pointed out. Beijing is also opposed to all the forms of “hegemonism and power politics… unilateralism, protectionism, and bullying of any kind.”

The speech of the Chinese leader caused irritation (to say the least) with the West, primarily the United States. Washington makes no bones about its dissatisfaction with the CPC Congress and explicitly states that "it should never have been possible." This has been at least pronounced in a Washington Post editorial. Pieces of the kind by this outlet are an unanimously formulated truth and guideline to follow by every "decent" Democrat and Westerner.

But what is Washington’s problem with the CPC Congress? First of all, the party’s Secretary General and head of state Xi Jinping will stay at the helm for another five-year term. Second, Beijing is ready to use force in resolving the Taiwan crisis, if necessary. Third, the current Chinese leader has made his country a superpower over the years of his rule, thereby impudently challenging the United States, which runs counter to Washington's strategic interests. Thus, the Western world’s reaction to the CPC twentieth Congress (for which read the successes of China) was quite predictable.

However, our prior concern is what kind of relations Moscow and Beijing will have after the forum. Many China experts agree that Russian-Chinese ties are safe and will have the same high level as before. There is every reason to believe this. Russia and China have been actively approaching each other in the international arena, developing cooperation in energy, security and trade.

Suffice it to recall that February 4 this year saw Russian leader Vladimir Putin fly to China to meet with Xi Jinping and sign a joint bilateral statement on international relations entering a new era and global sustainable development. According to head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Yi, strategic cooperation between Russia and China has “no limits” or “forbidden areas of cooperation”. China neither criticizes Russia at bilateral meetings and internationally nor imposes sanctions against it. Apart from that, Beijing takes a neutral and fairly balanced position on Ukraine.

Interaction in the energy field will be an important part of Sino-Russian cooperation after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics and Business Administration in the Central China Pedagogical University Zhou Weidi said. In his opinion, “the Sino-Russian strategic interaction is highly important, as both China and Russia are actually the countries exerting great influence on the regional and global situation.”

He is echoed by Russia’s chargé d’affaires in China Ivan Zhelokhovtsev. In an interview with that country’s CCTV channel, he said the twentieth CPC Congress might give a new kick to Russian-Chinese cooperation. "We are convinced that our countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership and interaction will acquire momentum after the congress," the diplomat said.

In conclusion, let’s emphasize that Russia deems it important that China's current policy remains unchanged, with Moscow being quite satisfied with it. And judging by statements Chinese President Xi Jinping made in his congress-opening speech, Beijing is not going to change its Russia policy in any sphere. China has also abstained from hostile rhetoric on Ukraine, which is also suitable for Russia. Finally, we will profit from Xi Jinping’s new presidential term. He has established himself as a reliable partner eager to keep boosting relations with Moscow.