Sept 3, 2015 09:00

President Xi welcomes guests President Xi welcomes guests Twenty-three heads of state and government leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, attended the parade.

10:00 Military band performance, gun salute and flag raising Military band performance, gun salute and flag raising Some 1,300 members of the PLA Chorus performed alongside the Military Band for the first time, including around 100 female performers.

10:06 Xi delivers speech, inspects troops Xi delivers speech, inspects troops It was the first time that Xi Jinping had observed troops as the country’s top leader and delivered a speech atop the Tian’anmen Rostrum.

10:45 Air flag guard formation Air flag guard formation Twenty helicopters formed the number 70 to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory. It was the first time a commemorative number had been formed in any military parade.

10:48 Formations of veterans in vehicles Formations of veterans in vehicles It was the first time that veterans had joined a parade. Veterans include both the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang who fought against invading Japanese soldiers.

10:50 Foot formations Foot formations Ten foot formations of the People’s Liberation Army were named after the most famous army units during the War of Resistance against the Japanese Aggression.

10:58 Foreign troops Foreign troops Nearly 1,000 foreign soldiers from 17 countries participated in the parade and it was the first time China had invited foreign troops to attend a parade since 1949.

11:05 Armament formations Armament formations Dongfeng-21D, nicknamed the “aircraft carrier killer” and the latest variant of the DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile system, is reportedly capable of hitting an aircraft carrier within a range of 1,500 km.

11:27 Air echelons Air echelons Nicknamed “Flying Shark,” J-15 is China’s first -generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet, with the capability to carry out various tasks.

11:40 Doves and balloons Doves and balloons Seventy thousand doves were released over Tian’anmen Square followed by 70,000 balloons.