About Forum 2025

About the forum
The BRICS Summit, held in Kazan in 2024, hosted a meeting between President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. The Heads of states confirmed their desire to further strengthen the strategic partnership and expand cultural and economic ties between the two countries.
As part of strengthening bilateral cooperation between Russian regions and Chinese provinces, the annual International Forum "SPROUTS: Russia and China – mutually beneficial cooperation" has been initiated.
On August 18-19, 2025, the forum will be held for the third time. The Kazan Expo International Exhibition Center in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, will once again become the venue of the event.
The forum's program includes business sessions in 10 key areas, covering interstate dialogue, industry, education, economics, finance, transport, tourism, culture, interaction of business associations, as well as a cross-cultural area.
The central event will be the plenary session of the forum. In addition to the business part, guests will enjoy a reception with dishes of national cuisine, a concert by art masters, tournaments in the ancient Chinese game of Weiqi, tennis and golf, as well as a Chinese film festival and a coffee break in the format of a Chinese tea ceremony.
A special place in the programme is occupied by the Russia-China Expo international exhibition, a large-scale exposition with an area of 15,000 sq. m. dedicated to current areas of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and China.
Traditionally, representatives of federal ministries, heads of provincial governments of the People's Republic of China, chairmen of Russian and Chinese companies, heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of business associations and business circles of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China will participate in the Forum.
The 2024 Forum brought together more than 10,000 participants from 36 countries, 71 subjects of the Russian Federation, and 27 administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. 31 agreements have been signed.
The honorary guests of the forum last year were:
1. Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation;
2. Igor Levitin, Adviser to the President, Special Presidential Representative for International Cooperation in Transport;
3. Alexander Babakov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation;
4. Rustam Minnikhanov, Head (Rais) of the Republic of Tatarstan;
5. Alexander Sokolov, Kirov Region Governor;
6. He Zhongyou, Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China;
7. Liang Renzhe, Vice Governor of Jilin Province;
8. Liu Jun, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China to the Russian Federation, Trade Representative of the People's Republic of China in Russia;
9. Zhang Ming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Standing Committee of the Chongqing City People's Congress;
10. Guo Kuilong, Secretary General of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Engineering and Electronic Products;
11. Zhou Lijun, Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia.