HAVANA — The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be "a major success," said a senior member of the Communist Party of Cuba.

The 19th CPC National Congress, which opened Wednesday in Beijing, is "an important event that will set the development projections of the Asian country," Ulises Guilarte said in a recent interview with Chinese media.

The CPC national congress, usually held every five years, will elect a new leadership and set the course for China's development over the next five years.

"We believe it will be a major success," added Guilarte, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and also secretary general of the Workers' Union.

China, he noted, is now a "major player" in the international arena and its policies define trade relations around the world.

"China is a country that offers confidence, security and, above all, much hope in how to build a better world in the midst of an international economic order characterized by inequality, exclusion and interference by imperial powers," he added.

Guilarte also said relations between Beijing and Havana are marked by "history, fraternity and brotherhood," as well as mutual support in international forums where both countries participate.

"The ties between Cuba and China are a sign of how much both countries can advance in the consolidation of their commercial, economic, cultural and political ties," he stated.

In 2016, for the first time in more than half a century of relations, China became the Caribbean nation's top trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $2.5 billion, according to the Cuban Bureau of Statistics and Information.

Guilarte said the Cuban people have a "high admiration and respect" for China because for many years they have been a "living testimony of solidarity, brotherhood and cooperation" with the island.

"Therefore as China celebrates its National Congress of the Communist Party we wish the Chinese government and people prosperity, health and infinite development," he said.