BEIJING, June 23. /TASS/. China has invited foreign servicemen to take part in its military parade due on September 3, a high-ranking Chinese military official said on Tuesday.
The parade will be held on occasion of the 70th anniversary since the Chinese people’s victory over the Japanese invaders in the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 and the end of World War II.
"This is the first time we invite foreign units to participate [in this event]," a deputy director of the Parade Steering Group Office, Qu Rui, said a press conference in Beijing.
"We expect that the current parade will help to reconcile the past and the future. China will act together with the whole world, and a message of peace and development will be sent," he said.
The parade will also feature China’s military hardware and some equipment will be shown for the first time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be among the guests at the event and the Chinese government also plans to invite US President Barack Obama and other world leaders.
In late March, Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov told reporters that Putin planned to visit Beijing in September to attend the celebrations on occasion of the victory in World War II.