Japan’s surrender to Allied forces in China was signed in Nanjing on September 9, 1945.
The ceremony took place one week after Japan’s formal surrender in Tokyo Bay. General Yasuji Okamura, commander of the Japanese forces in China, signed the surrender document for Japan.
General He Yingqin accepted the surrender on behalf of the Republic of China and the Allied powers. The ceremony was held at the auditorium of the Central Army Military Academy in Nanjing and lasted about 15 minutes.
This event should not be confused with the September 2 ceremony aboard USS Missouri. The Tokyo Bay ceremony ended the war formally at the international level, while the Nanjing ceremony documented the surrender of Japanese forces operating in China.
The Nanjing signing also reflected the continuing importance of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which had begun in 1937. Japanese forces in China later completed additional local surrender procedures, including a major ceremony in Beijing in October 1945.