Aleksey Volin (center), the deputy minister of telecom and mass communication of the Russian Federation, along with representatives from various Chinese and Russian media outlets visit several new media companies in Tianhe, Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Oct 28, 2016. [Photo by Zhu Xinxing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Due to achievements by Guangzhou's Tianhe district in recent years in technological innovation and international exchanges, it was chosen as the venue of the forum, a major event of the 2016-2017 Sino-Russian Media Exchange Year, which was proposed by President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2015, according to the organizer of the event.

Tianhe is being called the capital for international fashion and a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, and as Guangzhou becomes an important national center and a network-based hub, Tianhe is playing a major role.

Volin visited several Tianhe new media companies on Friday, including Kugou corp, a leading online music distribution company.