China-Russia cooperation has always been the spotlight of the forum since its launch in 2015. The collaboration has since expanded from trading goods to investing in such areas as the service sector and high tech. What are the top priorities at this year's gathering for the two neighbors? Michelle van den Bergh has more.

This is the fourth year that the Eastern Economic Forum has opened its doors to international guests. That comes as overseas investors showed an increasing interest in Russia's resource-rich and geo-strategic Far Eastern Region. The forum is part of Russia's broader strategy of "pivot to Asia" and it's expected to draw billions of dollars in investment this year. It's also expected to help the region better integrate into the larger Asia-Pacific economy.

ARTYOM LUKIN FAR EASTERN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY "China is a key partner in developing Russia's far-east region. The cooperation between the two countries have born fruit in the past few years. We will continue to upgrade this special partnership and broaden our collaborations into areas including infrastructure and manufacturing."

China and Russia share a border of over 4.3 thousand miles, with a large portion of that covering the far east region. Analysts say the close proximity offers unique advantages for developing logistics and e-commerce.

SERGEY GORKOV, DEPUTY MINISTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION "Both China and Russia need such a platform to communicate, make decisions and sign agreements. And the state visits during the forum are meaningful. That's why I think the forum is very important. In my point of view, the relations between Russia and China in recent years are significant to the two countries, especially under the difficulties in terms of macro-economics and politics."

ALEXEI CHEKUNKOV, CEO FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT FUND "Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance at the forum will deepen the cooperation of the two countries in Russia's far-eastern region. Also, the cooperation in China's northeast would be injected with some sort of new economic power. Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese and Russian companies will solve a variety of issues including food safety, energy utilization and logistics."

This year's forum is centered around "Expanding the Range of Possibilities in Russian's far eastern region". The host is expected to build upon the success of previous meetings and continue laying the foundation for Russia's rise as an economic heavyweight in the region.