President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Tian'anmen Rostrum before the parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Sept 3, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

For the first time, veterans from counter-Japanese forces led by both the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Kuomintang (KMT), who fought for the Chinese nation's freedom simultaneously during WWII, took part in a military parade together.

From afar, the saluting veterans looked straightfaced but spirited. Only the occasional shake of hands betrayed their inner thrill.

Next came the PLA guards of honor and 10 foot formations - each named after a morale-boosting battle fought by CPC-led troops during WWII or Chinese war heroes and model combatants. They marched by with impeccable synchrony and coordination.

But the highlight for many of the 40,000 audiences present and hundreds of millions more who watched the parade on television or Internet was the first-ever participation of foreign troops in a Chinese military parade.

Nearly 1,000 foreign troops from 17 countries including Russia marched at the heels of their PLA counterparts, drawing waves of cheers and applause.

China, together with Britain, the former Soviet Union and the U.S., were among key members of the victorious WWII Allies.

The 70-minute parade also included a host of China's home-made conventional and nuclear weaponry that bespoke the PLA's long march from an army mainly composed of infantry more than 70 years ago to a now modern military force.

On display were China's newest models of intercontinental nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles.