The Multipolar Vector in Deng Xiaoping’s Foreign Policy Strategy: Reconsideration of China’s Diplomatic Course

The modern world order is in a state of permanent change. By the end of the 20th century, the topic of a multipo-lar world order began to gain popularity, mainly in the discourse of developing countries such as China. The ideas of equal, multilateral and global cooperation were reflected not only in the official, but also in the expert discourse of Chinese political scientists and scientists. In order to be able to evaluate and predict China’s for-eign policy strategy towards its partners (including Russia) today, it is necessary to identify the distinctive fea-tures of the Chinese understanding of multilateral cooperation and global interaction, laid down under the great reformer of China, Deng Xiaoping, which is the purpose of this article. Methods: 1) a problem-chronological approach that allowed us to identify the main reasons for China’s support of the new multipolar course; 2) comparative analysis – to compare the official discourse of the Chinese leadership and the opinions of the Chinese expert community regarding the understanding of the formation and functioning of the multipolar world order.