CHINA on Thursday announced that it will put on a grand celebration, followed by a military parade and mass pageantry at Tian’anmen Square in Beijing on Oct. 1, the National Day, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

President Xi Jinping will deliver an important speech at the celebration.

The military parade is an important part of the National Day celebration and is not aimed at any other countries or specific situations, Cai Zhijun, deputy head of the office of the leading group for the military parade, said at a press conference held in Beijing.

Some advanced weapons will make their debut in the military parade, the scale of which is scheduled to be greater than the ones commemorating the 50th and 60th founding anniversaries of the PRC, as well as the V-Day military parade in 2015.

The military parade is expected to showcase China’s achievements in building its national defense and armed forces in the past 70 years and reflect the outcomes of the reform of the people’s armed forces, according to Cai.

More than 100,000 people will take part in a mass parade, said Wang Xiaohui, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

The parade, with groups marching in phalanxes, floats and music, will be a free, vivid, happy and lively show featuring extensive participation, said Du Feijin, head of the Publicity Department of the Beijing Committee of the Communist Party of China.

It will cover all walks of life and all ethnic groups, with workers, farmers, teachers, students, doctors, civil servants, deliverymen and square dance lovers representing different aspects of society, he said.

Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots, as well as overseas Chinese and foreigners will also join the parade, Du added.

About 10 Hong Kong police officers have been invited to join in the celebration.

Among them is an officer, surnamed Lau, from Kwai Chung Police Station. Lau, known as “bald sergeant Lau Sir,” became a popular figure on the Chinese mainland after a cartoon of him holding a gun to protect his colleague amid violent attacks by protesters went viral online.

The 70 years of growth and hard work since the founding of New China will be displayed through the marching phalanxes, each telling the story of a period of time, Du said.

Tian’anmen Square will be decorated with “red ribbon” sculptures representing the “red gene” linking history, reality and the future, and symbolizing the glorious course of the Party leading the Chinese revolution to victory, he said, adding that 70 red lanterns will be hung parallel to the east and west sides of the square.(Xinhua)