China is celebrating its growing power and confidence with a massive display of military hardware and goose-stepping troops in Beijing on Tuesday, overseen by President Xi Jinping who pledged peaceful development on the 70th birthday of Communist China.

The event is the country’s most important of the year as China looks to project its assurance in the face of mounting challenges, including nearly four months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong and an economy-sapping trade war with the United States.

Xi, dressed in a slate-grey “Mao” suit and accompanied by his predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, said China will pursue a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up.

The parade of 15,000 soldiers, 70 elaborate floats and 100,000 civilians, which lasted more than two hours, was a proud moment for many Chinese citizens watching the spectacle across the country on television.