Ferrari celebrated the 20th anniversary of its arrival in China Thursday with a day of events around Guangzhou including a supercar procession featuring over 130 Ferraris and a gala dinner in honor of the brand’s Chinese clients.

Since the supercar maker opened its first official showroom in 1992, China has become Ferrari’s second largest market, home to 700 vehicles and 25 dealerships.

The celebrations started with a press conference, where Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo stressed the growing importance of China to the car company’s future.

The press conference was followed in the afternoon by the largest ever parade of Ferraris in China, a spectacle that drew crowds of over 250,000 along the streets of Guangzhou and featured the first public appearance of a new limited-edition version of Ferrari’s 458 Italia V8 supercar designed specifically for the Chinese market and finished in a special Rosso Marco Polo paint job.

The parade culminated with a display held inside the Haixinsha stadium, watched by 18,000 people, the centerpiece of which was the exhibition of the 2012 International GT Open championship-winning Ferrari 458 GT2 driven by Gianmaria Bruni who took the Drivers’ title.

Other highlights of the day included turning the Canton Tower (the tallest TV tower in the World) red and a gala evening attended by Ferrari’s growing number of Chinese clients.

“It has been a marvellous day of celebrations,” commented Luca di Montezemolo, “with many enthusiasts, a lot of young people and the city full of Ferrari flags.

This has been the best demonstration yet of what the Prancing Horse represents in China – not just from a commercial point of view, but above all else for the Chinese people’s passion for Ferrari.”