President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Facts you need to know

The occasion saw the largest gathering of foreign guests invited to a military parade in China. Twenty-three heads of state and government leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, were present.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was the first guest to be greeted.

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.

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