About Forum 2026

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 17-18, 2026, the forum will be held for the fourth 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 programme includes business sessions in 17 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, and tennis, 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 10,000 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 2025 Forum brought together about 10,000 participants from 40 countries, 68 subjects of the Russian Federation, and 28 administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. 34 agreements have been signed.
The honorary guests of the forum last year were:
1.    Anton ALIKHANOV, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation;
2.    Yury MUTSENEK, State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation;
3.    Igor LEVITIN, Adviser to the President, Special Presidential Representative for International Cooperation in Transport;
4.    Dmitry VORONA, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy;
5.    Rustam MINNIKHANOV, Head (Rais) of the Republic of Tatarstan;
6.    SONG Wei, Secretary of the Communist Party Group and Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Council of Hubei Province;
7.    TAN Zhouyan, Member of the Party Group of the Shandong Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chairman of the Shandong Social Science Association;
8.    ZHANG Hanhui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Russian Federation;
9.    GUO Kuilong, Secretary General of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Engineering and Electronic Products.