An international relations expert said China will be "more respected by the world" following an upcoming military parade in Beijing, adding there's a need for the country to showcase its military strength in face of geopolitics.

A massive military parade is scheduled at Tiananmen Square on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

President Xi Jinping will be joined by more than 20 foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University, told RTHK that in the past, China kept a low profile when it came to its military strength.

But now, he said, Beijing has to show off its military might to protect itself in the face of growing danger.

"We are more transparent to show our capacity... to safeguard our national interests and national security, territorial integrity. That, I think, is a dramatic change of China's foreign policy, and particularly the military policy," he said.

China last held a Victory Day parade a decade ago. Ten years on, Wang said the nation is facing increasing geopolitical challenges, brought on mainly by US President Donald Trump.

"In the past 10 years, the most important change is President Trump. He represents the capitalist system, or the globalisation system," he noted.

"This is really dangerous... for instance, the trade war in the name of [reciprocal tariffs], which undermines the order of the WTO-centric free trade. That's basically the most serious challenge to the world order."

Wang also spoke about China's growing leadership role in the global arena moving forward.

"China will be more respected by the world, particularly from the Global South... More and more countries will be looking to the East from the heart, not just a choice."

His comments were echoed by military expert Song Zhongping, who said the parade will showcase Beijing's efforts to modernise the People's Liberation Army.

"We all know by 2027, it will be 100 years since the PLA was established... The government had set three goals of mechanisation, informatisation and intelligentisation for the PLA, and there are roughly two years left to achieve them," he told RTHK.

Song noted this will be the third time Xi inspects PLA troops, following similar parades in 2015 and 2019.

"We did not have strong military capabilities back then. But as our strength grows, so does our peacekeeping ability," he said.

"[But] we also need to safeguard national sovereignty and development interests... There is no use to strive for peace if we don't have the ability to deter. They must come hand in hand."