V-Day celebrations usher in a better future

Xi reviews troops participating in grand parade at Tian’anmen Square, reiterates China’s commitment to peaceful development. Cao Desheng reports

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China held a massive military parade at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on September 3 as part of its commemorations on the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, pledging to pursue a path of peaceful development in a world fraught with turbulence and uncertainty.

President Xi Jinping oversaw the parade and reviewed the troops. Standing beside Xi on the Tian’anmen Rostrum were Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, along with more than 20 other foreign leaders.

Representatives of those who had supported China's fight in World War Il, or their family members, were invited to the event.

While addressing the grand gathering for the commemorative event ahead of the parade, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that the commemorations aim to bear history in mind, honour martyrs, cherish peace and strive for a better future.

He said that the resistance war, arduous and great, marks China's first complete victory against foreign aggression in modern times.