Following are highlights of the events on Thursday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. [Special coverage]
-- It was the first Chinese military parade marking any anniversary of the war and the first with foreign military participation.
-- It was the first time that Xi Jinping had reviewed troops as the country's top leader and delivered a speech atop the Tian'anmen Rostrum.
-- Twenty-three heads of state and government leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye, watched the military parade.
-- Former British prime minister Tony Blair and former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were present.
-- Attendees also included government representatives and heads of international organizations, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
-- More than 100 foreign VIPs or relatives of wartime heroes attended the event, including relatives of Canadian doctor Norman Bethune, Japanese veterans who served in the Eighth Route Army and veterans of the "Flying Tigers" of the United States.
-- A total of 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of equipment, and nearly 200 aircraft were shown.
-- Nearly 1,000 foreign troops from 17 countries also participated, including a 75-member formation dispatched by Russia.
-- Ten foot formations of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were named after the most famous anti-Japanese army units. This was the first time that the PLA had organized a parade in such a way.
-- Veterans of both the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT) who fought the Japanese participated, the first time that veterans had joined a parade.
-- It was also the first time that female guards of honor of the three services of the PLA had taken part in a military parade.
-- More than 50 generals led foot formations and armament formations, or flew the leader aircraft in the air echelons.
-- The PLA arranged its armament in formations based on their actual combat roles for the first time.
-- About 84 percent of armaments displayed in the parade had never been viewed by the public previously.
-- The Army, Navy, Air Force, Second Artillery Force and Armed Police all debuted their new armament, which range from intercontinental ballistic missiles to medium-long range bombers. All of the main-battle armament are made in China.
-- Some 40,000 people were present in Tian'anmen Square, which could be the largest live audience to watch any parade in China.
