Chinese troops will parade through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square alongside aircraft flypasts and high-tech weaponry to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, officials announced on Tuesday.

Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which merged with the global conflagration following Tokyo’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Beijing’s Communist Party has held a series of blockbuster events in recent years to commemorate its wartime resistance, vowing that China will never be brought to its knees in such a way again.

The parade on September 3 will see President Xi Jinping inspect troops in Tiananmen Square, according to Wu Zeke, an official at China’s military commission.

The Kremlin has said Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend, and Chinese officials said other world leaders are also expected to take in the scene.

The commemorations will feature ground troops marching in formation, armoured columns, aerial echelons and other high-tech fighting gear, Wu told a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

State news agency Xinhua said the event would also show off “new types of combat forces including unmanned, intelligent equipment”.

Officials did not specify which weapons would be showcased but said they would include Chinese-made, high-precision equipment ready to fight the “battles of the future”.

The parade would help to rally the entire country in shared patriotic spirit around the party and Xi, and bring “the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” even closer, Wu said.