The parade through Tiananmen Square on Wednesday morning was overseen by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also the head of China’s military and the Chinese Communist Party.
After greeting foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Xi moved on to welcome Chinese military veterans before taking his place at the centre of the event.
Putin, Pezeshkian and Kim were just some of the 26 world leaders who attended the parade, in a group that was drawn from mostly non-Western countries.
Xi watched on from the Gate of Heavenly Peace before making a speech to the 10,000 assembled members of the People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force, stating that China would continue to “adhere to a path of peaceful development”.
“Humanity is again faced with a choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes or zero-sum games,” Xi said, according to an official readout of his speech.
“The Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity,” he added.
Dressed in a grey Mao suit, Xi then toured Tiananmen Square, standing in a vehicle, before the parade finally commenced down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Chinese capital.
China’s most advanced weaponry took front and centre in the parade, including a new generation of hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles, underwater drones, fighter jets, early warning aircraft and aircraft jamming systems.
Long-range intercontinental missiles – capable of delivering nuclear warheads – were also given a prominent position in the parade alongside tight formations of military personnel marching in unison before an audience of 50,000 observers.
Above the parade, the air force staged a flyover, including helicopters with banners declaring, “Justice will prevail”, “Peace will prevail”, and “The people will win”.
