We start in Russia where the second day of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum was marked by Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech. He focused on sustainable development and globalization offering a Chinese perspective. It's his third and last day of his trip to Russia. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic has more from the northwestern Russian city.

Over 17-thousand people came to the 23rd Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.

And all of them were drawn in and focused on its key event - the plenary session, where some of the world leaders talked about their views about the world's future.

In attendance were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, Slovakian PM Peter Pellegrini, PM of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, and the two biggest stars of the event, Russian and Chinese Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

The first speaker was Vladimir Putin, the event's host.

In his speech, he focused on the need for more equality in global trade and slammed those who opted for sanctions and trade wars as tools of pressure for imposing their vision onto the world.

VLADIMIR PUTIN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT "It is how the United States, I regret to say that, acts today - it extends their jurisdiction across the whole world. By the way, I already spoke about it 12 years ago. This model not only contradicts the normal logic of communication between the nations in the reality of the complex, multi-polar world. Most importantly, it does not meet the challenges of the future."

The Russian leader ended his speech with an invitation to all for collaborating on an equal basis.

And then it was the time for Chinese President Xi Jinping to take to the stage. He focused on the welfare of the people and the need to eradicate poverty around the world. The Chinese president also discussed China's success in that area, as well as the goals that China had put in front of itself.

China will work with everybody in the world for the benefit of a bright and prosperous future for all, President Xi Jinping said at the end.

His words were greeted by strong applause from the attendees.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC SAINT PETERSBURG "It was questions around energy, globalization and sustainable development that were the focus of this year's plenary session. The speeches given by the presidents of China and Russia emphasized the need for global change in order to achieve those goals. The hand of peace was extended here to leaders at the forum. The question now is whether and who will accept it. Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Saint Petersburg."