Organised by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Lanzhou Military Area Command and involving over 140,000 soldiers, the three-day drill was the last in a series of five drills codenamed "Joint Action-2015". The series began in late July.
It was the biggest and most comprehensive military exercise China has conducted in recent years, testing space reconnaissance among other capabilities.
The four previous drills in the series were organised by the PLA area commands of Chengdu, Nanjing and Guangzhou, and the Chinese navy.