The 5th Eastern Economic Forum has kicked off in Vladivostok, Russia. Established in 2015, the forum aims to encourage foreign investment in Russia's east. President Vladimir Putin has held a bilateral meeting with the leader of China's delegation, Vice Premier Hu Chunhua. He has also met the prime ministers of Malaysia and Japan. The leader of India, Narendra Modi is also in attendance. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic has more.  

The 2019 Eastern Economic Forum is hosting many high-profile guests from different countries. One of them is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Modi met on the sidelines of this year's forum in Vladivostok.

They discussed 25 agreements on energy, transportation, military and aerospace.

Before the signing ceremony, the two leaders visited Russia's Far Eastern shipbuilding company Zvezda, which would like to expand its business to the Indian market too.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also attending the event. For him, this is a recurring visit, since he attended the Forum last year too.

Thousands from dozens of other countries are also taking part in the event.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC VLADIVOSTOK "If you're important in the world of business and politics in Russia, this is the place where you need to be right now. The Forum has taken on a pivotal role in the development of Russia's collaboration with the Asian countries."

China has sent a delegation led by Vice Premier Hu Chunhua. Besides discussing significant state contracts and agreements, both countries are now working on expanding collaboration between small and medium-sized enterprises.

WEI BOREN RUSSIAN-CHINESE CENTER OF INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP "Russia has a lot of hi-technology companies, and China has a lot of financial institutions. Chinese companies are now very interested in Russian technology firms. To establish collaboration, we need to build partnerships between China and Russia."

And while that type of collaboration kicks into high gear, big businesses will continue to lead the way.

One of those companies is Russian Helicopters which is actively working with the Chinese AVIC on the development of the Advanced Heavy Lifter helicopter.

ANDREY BOGINSKY DIRECTOR GENERAL, RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS "All technical negotiations are finished. There are just a few commercial points that need to be addressed. I hope that by the end of this year we will resolve these with our Chinese partners. From this point of view, this project is in an advanced planning stage."

The 2019 edition of the Eastern Economic Forum will run through Friday. On Thursday, all eyes will be on the plenary session, where Putin, Modi, and Abe will address the attendees.

Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Vladivostok.