Nanjing hosted Japan’s formal surrender ceremony for China in 1945. The ceremony took place on 9 September in the auditorium of the Central Army Military Academy.
General Yasuji Okamura, commander-in-chief of the Japanese China Expeditionary Force, signed the surrender document. General He Yingqin accepted it for the Republic of China and the Allied side, with British Major-General Eric Hayes also present.
This ceremony followed the broader Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri on 2 September. The Nanjing event dealt specifically with Japanese forces in China and was held about a week after the global surrender ceremony.
Nanjing can be confused with Chongqing, which served as the wartime capital of the Republic of China, or Beijing, where other Japanese forces later surrendered. The Nanjing ceremony was the principal formal surrender event for Japanese forces in China.