CRI听力:China Unveils Plans for Victory Day Parade

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

It will be the first time that China has held a parade to commemorate the event.

President Xi Jinping and other leaders will attend the ceremony on September 3 to mark the end of the war following Japan's invasion of China. Last month, Xi joined Russian President Vladimir Putin for a similar military parade in Moscow's Red Square marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Qu Rui, Deputy Director of the Parade Steering Group Office under the General Staff Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army, China's armed forces, says the parade aims to preserve the memory of the sacrifices made by the Chinese people.

"This military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory against Japanese aggression aims to make a statement of our nation's determination to follow a path of a peaceful development, and our firm determination to protect world peace, to protect our nation's sovereignty and security, and our development interests. We also want to make a statement of the Chinese people's sacrifice and historical contribution to the fight against fascism."

President Xi is expected to hand out medals to veterans and families of martyrs who fell in the line of duty.

Several Kuomintang (KMT) veterans have also been invited to take part in the military parade.

Foreign troops have also been invited for the event that will showcase China's new homemade weapons systems.

China has issued a new decree to celebrate September 3 as the country's official "Victory Day" each year, from this year onward.

Wang Shiming, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party's Central Committee says the day has also been made a national holiday

"Every year the 3rd of September will be set as Victory Day against Japan's aggression. These decisions are based on that on September the 2nd, 1945, the Japanese government signed a letter of formal surrender, which symbolises the end of the "Chinese people's war of resistance against Japanese aggression, and the victory of the world's anti-fascist war'."

A series of activities have been planned in September to draw attention to Japan's war-time legacy of aggression.

A traditional "bell-striking" ceremony will be held in northeast China's Shenyang city on September 18, to mark one of the earliest acts of violence that marked the beginning of Japan's aggression against China. A public memorial service will also be held for the 300,000 people killed in the Nanjing Massacre.

For CRI I'm Poornima Weeraskeara.