16 photos of China's cutting-edge military assets

BEIJING, China — Last Thursday's spectacle involved more than 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of military hardware and 200 aircrafts of various types in celebration of Japan's defeat in World War II seven decades ago.

The parade also represented what military officials say is the Chinese military's most cutting-edge technology.

With helicopters zooming across the sky in an array forming the number 70, the event also underlined President Xi Jinping's determination to make China the pre-eminent Asian power.

Here are photos of air and land assets displayed at the parade.

Photos from the Associated Press/Ng Han Guan, Mark Schiefelbein and Andy Wong (pool).

Xi kicked off the proceedings with a speech from atop iconic Tiananmen Gate, flanked by Chinese leaders past and present along with foreign dignitaries including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"The experience of war makes people value peace even more," Xi said. "Regardless of the progress of events, China will never seek hegemony, China will never seek to expand and will never inflict the tragedies it suffered in the past upon others."

Xi also pledged to reduce the army by 300,000 troops in a bid to show that his country poses no expansionist threat. — Text from the Associated Press