President Xi, int'l guests pose for group photo at V-Day gathering

Chinese President Xi Jinping posed for a group photo with international guests attending a grand gathering marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War on Wednesday morning in Beijing.

China was the first to fight against fascist aggression and sustained the longest resistance. In the 14-year-long war, Chinese casualties exceeded 35 million. With huge national sacrifice, the Chinese people held ground in the main theater in the East of the World Anti-Fascist War.

Japan surrendered on Sept 2, 1945, signing the Instrument of Surrender to China and other Allied powers. China celebrated the victory the following day. In 2014, the country legislated to designate Sept 3 as Victory Day of its War of Resistance.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.