At 10 am on October 1, 1984, the then-Chairman of the Central Military Commission Deng Xiaoping, accompanied by the parade director Qin Jiwei, reviewed the army in a vehicle. When the march-past began, a guard of honor composed of commanders and soldiers from the army, navy and air force marched at the front. They carried the army flag and took the lead entering Tiananmen Square. They were followed by a military academy division comprising representatives of cadets from military colleges, naval colleges, air force colleges, artillery colleges, armor colleges and Shijiazhuang Army School. These cadets wore new-style uniforms and marched using goose-steps. Following were the infantry, marine, airborne troops of the air force, female medical corps, People's Armed Police and militia divisions.

Following the divisions on foot, motorized and mechanized divisions passed one by one, including divisions of antitank missile, artillery, rocket minelayer, infantry fighting vehicle, armored personnel carrier, tank, self-propelled gun, surface-to-air missile and strategic missile.

When the air force anti-aircraft missile division crossed Tiananmen Square, the airborne first echelon, led by H-6 aircrafts, flew toward Tiananmen Square with eight J-5 aircrafts lining up on both sides. The first echelon was followed by the second echelon comprising 18 H-6 aircrafts. While the airborne first and second echelons were being reviewed, nine large tractors from the strategic missile division carrying strategic missiles designed and manufactured independently by China appeared. These missiles were open to the public for the first time and attracted particular attention. Then, the 32 Qiang-5 aircrafts of the airborne third echelon, divided into four squadrons, flew low over the Tiananmen area. Following that, the 35 J-7 aircrafts of the fourth echelon divided into five squadrons and flew over the Tiananmen area. At 10:56 am, the march-past ended. The entire military parade took 56 minutes.