DECODING XI JINPING'S SPEECH: CHINA'S CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM WILL MARK THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

On 16 October, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a two-hour speech at the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). From national security to global economic integration, the address covered many issues related to China's political and economic progress since 2017, new problems, and prospects for a modernized China. One of the interesting statements in the speech was that Jinping strongly opposed Cold War politics and all forms of hegemony associated with this era, rejecting the idea of power politics, and favoring a new vision for China as a benign force. For many observers, such remarks will most likely remain on paper. China's enormous economic growth over the last two decades paved the way for an outwardly oriented China, as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and plans for a more sophisticated and modernized army (PLA) reveal. In this regard, two aspects of the speech deserve a close read: foreign policy priorities and clues about the existing international order. Both seem to characterize China as a "cautious optimist" actor in the global setting.