China has marked 70 years of Communist rule with massive military parade as trucks carrying weapons including a nuclear-capable missile rumbled through Beijing.
Rows of soldiers marched past President Xi Jinping in Tiananmen Square, the country's symbolic political heart, as thousands of spectators waved Chinese flags and fighter jets flew low overhead.
Xi, wearing a grey Mao jacket, addressed the country in televised speech, saying: "No force can shake the status of our great motherland, and no force can stop the progress of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.”
Tuesday's celebration comes as Xi's government faces economic and political challenges, but the ruling party's hold on power appears to be secure three decades after it crushed pro-democracy protests centred on Tiananmen Square.
Xi was joined on the Tiananmen rostrum by Chinese leaders including Premier Li Keqiang and former Presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin.
The event marks the anniversary of the October 1, 1949, announcement of the founding of the People's Republic of China by then-leader Mao Zedong following a civil war.
Invoking Mao's memory, Xi made his speech Tuesday on the same spot as the former leader's 1949 declaration.
Xi, who is chairman of the body that commands the ruling party's military wing, the People's Liberation Army, rode in an open-topped limousine past dozens of rows of truck-mounted missiles, armored personnel carriers and other military gear.
Soldiers in helmets and combat gear shouted, "Hello, leader!" and "Serve the people!" Xi replied, "Hello, comrades."
A formation of fighter jets trailing coloured smoke and led by a plane with a radar dish flew low over the capital as Xi waved to the pilots from the ground.
The event highlighted rapidly developing Chinese weapons technology that foreign analysts say is close to matching the US, Russia and Europe in missiles, drones and some other fields.
One of the most closely-watched weapons unveiled at the event was the Dongfeng-17, a nuclear-capable glider that foreign analysts say is designed to manoeuvre at high speed to evade anti-missile defences.
Another missile displayed, the Dongfeng-41, is believed to have a range of up to 15,000 kilometres (9,400 miles), which would make it world's longest-range military missile. Analysts have said it may be able to carry as many as 10 warheads to hit separate targets.
The party's emphasis on missiles and other long-range weapons reflects Beijing's desire to displace the US as the region's dominant force and enforce claims to Taiwan, the South China Sea and other disputed territories.
Beijing is trying to shore up cooling economic growth and prevent politically dangerous job losses amid a tariff war with Washington over trade and technology, a dispute that has battered Chinese exporters.
The party faces anti-government protests in Hong Kong that have embarrassed Beijing ahead of its highest-profile political event of the year. Despite that, Xi promised to stick to official commitments to let Hong Kong manage its own affairs despite the unrest.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam attended Tuesday's parade in Beijing, accompanied by dozens of Hong Kong officials and dignitaries in a show of unity with the ruling party.
Paramilitary policy maintained a strong presence in Shenzhen, the mainland city that abuts Hong Kong. Dozens of armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles of the People's Armed Police were parked outside a stadium as authorities prepared for an evening fireworks display.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised his country's decades-long ties with Beijing in a congratulatory message to Xi and said Pyongyang would stand by China in "defending and glorifying socialism," according to the North's official news agency.
The two leaders have met five times amid pressure on Pyongyang to renounced nuclear weapons development.
Xi, the son of a commander in Mao's guerrilla army, has emerged as China's most powerful leader in decades after using a marathon anti-corruption drive to neutralize potential rivals.
The party removed constitutional limits on its term as president last year, rolling back efforts to create a consensus-based system and prevent autocratic one-man rule.
In his speech, Xi reminded Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own territory, of the ruling party's pledge to unite it with the mainland, by force if necessary.
