BEIJING (AP) — President Xi Jinping tended to huge bouquets and gunners fired salutes Wednesday as China commemorated Japan’s World War II surrender in a campaign to remind the world of Tokyo’s historical aggression amid tense ties between the countries.

It was China’s first such celebration of a newly formalized historical commemoration day to mark Japan’s surrender to U.S. forces in the Pacific — 69 years after the event. From now on, Sept. 3 will be marked annually in China as the Victory Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.