SHANGHAI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai is to sound its first city-wide air raid alert in 59 years as part of national defence education, local authorities said on Tuesday.

    "The sirens will wail from 10 a.m. to 10:23 a.m. on September 20,as the third Saturday of the month is China's National Defence Education Day," said Liu Nanshan, the city's Civil Air Defence Office director.

    The aim is to test equipment and raise public awareness, he said. Shanghai has held drills since 2000, and the municipal government last December ordered city-wide sirens to be sounded every year on education day.