China marks WW2 victory with huge military parade

China has put on its biggest display of military might in a parade to commemorate victory over Japan in World War Two, an event shunned by most Western leaders but which underscored Beijing's growing confidence in its armed forces.

President Xi Jinping, speaking on a rostrum overlooking Beijing's Tiananmen Square before the parade began, offered an unexpected olive branch by saying China would cut its troop levels by 300,000. That would streamline one of the world's biggest militaries, currently around 2.3-million strong.

Xi gave no timeframe for the troop cut, adding China would always "walk down the path of peaceful development".

He then descended to Beijing's main thoroughfare and inspected rows of troops, riding past them in a black limousine and bellowing repeatedly: "Hello comrades, hard-working comrades!"

More than 12,000 soldiers, mostly Chinese but with contingents from Russia and elsewhere, then began marching down Changan Avenue, led by veterans of World War Two carried in vehicles.

They were followed by a range of ballistic missiles, tanks and armoured vehicles, many never seen in public before, and advanced fighter jets and bombers flew overhead.

Among the weapons China unveiled for the first time is an anti-ship ballistic missile, the Dongfeng-21D, which is reportedly capable of destroying an aircraft carrier with one hit.

Xi was joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of several other nations with close ties to China, including Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Most Western leaders rebuffed invitations to attend, diplomats said, unhappy about the guest list and wary of the message China is sending to a region already rattled by its military assertiveness, especially in the South China Sea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not attend the event, held a day after the 70th anniversary of Tokyo's surrender in World War Two.

The Chinese government has repeatedly said the parade is not aimed at today's Japan, but to remember the past and to remind the world of China's huge sacrifices during the conflict.

"As for the claim that China intends the event as a sabre-rattling occasion to instil fear, it is nothing but nonsense since China has always insisted on resolving disputes via peaceful means," state news agency Xinhua said in acommentary.

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