EKATERINBURG, Russia - The fifth China-Russia Expo opened Tuesday in Russia's fourth-largest city of Ekaterinburg, aiming to promote bilateral trade and regional cooperation.

"As the highest-level and largest comprehensive exhibition held by China and Russia, the China-Russia Expo has played an important role in promoting bilateral trade opportunities and exploring regional cooperation," Chinese Deputy Commerce Minister Gao Yan said at the opening ceremony.

Themed "New beginning, new opportunities and new future," the annual event has attracted over 200 Russian and Chinese companies this year. China Railway Group, CRRC Corporation and China Chang'an Automobile Group are participating in the event, among others.

The three-day expo consists of central exhibitions, provincial exhibitions and various sections such as equipment manufacturing, connectivity, trade in services and agricultural cooperation, where companies are expected to display products in aerospace and aviation, equipment, machinery, high technology and other areas in a total exhibition area of 8,500 square meters.

A total of 27 business events are scheduled to be held throughout the entire expo, concerning the fields of finance, electricity, technology, logistics, manufacturing and so on.

Gao said 14 key business events will be held on the state level, in a bid to facilitate dialogue between Chinese and Russian companies as well as their interaction with companies from other countries.

This year's expo is jointly hosted by the China's Ministry of Commerce, the Heilongjiang provincial government and Russia's Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Sverdlovskaya state.

The fourth China-Russia Expo was held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, last year.