China's "total victory" over Japan in World War II re-established it as a "major country", President Xi Jinping told a huge ceremony in Beijing to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory Thursday.

"The unyielding Chinese people fought gallantly and finally won total victory against the Japanese militarist aggressors, thus preserving China's 5,000-year-old civilisation and upholding the cause of peace," Xi said, describing the conflict as "a decisive battle between justice and evil, between light and darkness".