BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese army presented the nation and the world its latest armaments and establishments at the heart of Beijing Thursday morning in a grand military parade marking the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Military personnel and equipment of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery Corps (SAC), or strategic missile corps, which make up of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), joined the parade on Tian'anmen Square.

    Dressed in the PLA's 2007 Style Uniforms, most of the parading personnel in 56 phalanxes belong to generations born in the 1980sand 1990s, symbolizing the country's 56 ethnic groups marching along the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The one-hour great show televised live worldwide gave the world a chance to watch the ongoing transformation of the PLA from a labor-intensive force to technology-intensive might capable of joint operations in modern warfare.

The guard of honor of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army marches at the head of the march-past of a parade in the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei) Photo Gallery>>>

    "As a grand ceremony for the nation, the military parade demonstrates not only the changes in military armaments," said Jiang Tingyu, a military historian and a research fellow at the Chinese Military History Museum, "but the evolution of our country's overall national strength."

    Changes were omnipresent for the past 60 years as the armaments displayed in the country's first parade in 1949 were mainly seized during wars before the nation's founding. Those equipment included Japan's 75 mm Field Gun, the U.S.-made 105 mm howitzer, the EBRC armored vehicle and Britain's Mosquito bomber.

    The 1984 parade presented 28 domestically made categories of weaponry.

    To optimize its force structure, China had carried out several rounds of disarmament since 1949.

    After the latest disarmament in 2005, the PLA now has 2.3million servicemen to protect a nation of about 1.3 billion people, greatly down from the peak of 6 million shortly after the nation's founding.

Infantries receive inspection in the parade of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) Photo Gallery>>>

    Some military ranks, such as cavalry, railway unit and division bugler, were replaced by new units like army aviation, marine corps, special armed police corps and reserve duty. Compared with the military parade a decade ago, the parade this year further demonstrated China's advancement in its armed forces, with fewer troops but more equipment, including some debuting high-tech weaponry and special force units.

    All 52 types of new weapon systems staged on the parade this year were manufactured by China itself, including latest-generation main battle tank (MBT), airborne early warning and control (AEWC) aircraft, electronic countermeasure, mobile radar, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and satellite communication devices.

    Among the most watched armaments in the parade were five phalanxes formed by different types of missiles.

    "The strategic missiles on show this year reflect the great leap and breakthrough of the SAC's striking methods and capabilities," said Yu Jixun, SAC's deputy commander and the parade's deputy commander-in-chief. "They also demonstrate our developing abilities for strategic deterrence and precision strikes."

The march-past of a parade starts in the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Yang Lei) Photo Gallery>>>

    The strategic missiles shown in the parade was the PLA service's largest ever exhibition to the public in terms of its scale, quantity and models. The overland cruise missiles and new medium- and long-range missiles also made their debut in the parade.

    "Three of the five missile phalanxes are the newest series whose capabilities have been greatly enhanced, compared with those missiles shown 10 years ago," said SAC Senior Colonel Wang Liping. The air echelons, consisting of 151 aircraft like AEWC aircraft,J-11 fighters, J-10 fighter jets, bombers, aerial tankers, fighter-bombers, helicopters and training planes, flew over Tian'anmen Square this year, up from 132 aircraft in 1999.In the 1999 parade, Russian-made Su-27 fighter was China's only third-generation warplane but home-made third-generation fighter jets J-10 and J-11 thundered the skies this year after being in service in PLA air force.

    China's military now possesses most of the sophisticated weapon systems found in the arsenals of developed Western nations, General Liang Guanglie, minister of defense, told Xinhua in an interview two weeks before the parade.

    "Many of China's weapon systems match or are close to matching the capabilities of those in the West," he said. 

The march-past of a parade starts in the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Yang Lei) Photo Gallery>>>

Female pilots flying training jets conclude air display

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army's 15 female pilots ridding 15 training jets K-8 appeared as the final formation of an air display at the end of a grand military parade in Beijing Thursday morning.

    With music of a popular military song to express pilots' enthusiasm for the nation's blue sky echoing around Tian'anmen Square, five training jets flew over hundreds of thousands of spectators, leaving red, yellow and blue smoke trails behind to conclude the air show that lasts for nearly ten minutes. Full story

China National Day parade crescendoed when nuclear weapon appears

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's National Day military parade culminated in the final staging of giant nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles Thursday.

    The camouflage nuclear missiles, riding on 18 launch vehicles, rumbled past Tian'anmen Square and were reviewed by Chinese leaders and foreign guests. Full story

China's first early warning aircraft hints strategic leap in air defense

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The organizer of China's National Day parade showed the most important hardware progress the country's Air Force made in the past decade as the long-range Kongjing-2000 and two other smaller Kongjing-200 aircraft led air formations.

    The Kongjing-2000 is China's first generation of military airborne early warning and control (AEWC) system developed with its own technology. The plane was deployed around 2004 after decades of trade embargo by Western countries and unsuccessful acquisition of Russia-made equivalent. Full story

China new missile weapon to curb war threat

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A new type of surface-to-surface intermediate and long-range missiles rumbled past the Tian'anmen Rostrum Thursday morning.

This type of missiles of DF series can be armed with either nuclear or conventional warheads, military experts say. Full story

Indigenous J-10 fighters become Air Force's backbones

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Although China's indigenous J-10 multirole fighter was officially unveiled in 2006, it still deserved a new aircraft at the National Day parade.

    As a third-generation fighter in the world, the single-seated J-10 reserves many independent intellectual property rights for its Chinese developers and manufacturers especially for its high-agility aerodynamic layout with its delta wings and a pair of canards. Full story

China's cruise missiles "sharp swords" for precision attacks

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's land-based cruise missiles debuted at a National Day parade Thursday morning, marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

    The missiles, painted in camouflage, were one of the most advanced domestically-made weaponry of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Full story

Nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles bring climax to China parade

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's National Day military parade culminated in the final staging of giant nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles Thursday.

    The camouflaged nuclear weapon rode on 18 launch vehicles. Full story

China displays its most advanced weapons in National Day parade

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday displayed some of its most sophisticated weaponry in a grand military review to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

    Fifty-two types of new weapon systems developed and made in China, including the country's most advanced nuclear-capable missiles, were displayed. Ninety percent of the weapons were exposed to paraded for the first time. Full story

China's conventional missiles aimed at winning information warfare

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's first missile brigade, carrying the country's surface-to-surface conventional missiles, rumbled past Tian'anmen Rostrum Thursday.

    The homegrown missiles were carried by 18 mobile launchers, in a specially-designed formation. Full story

Military reserves marching past Tian'anmen Rostrum

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - A formation of Chinese military reserves, with bayonet fixed, marched past the Tian'anmen Rostrum in the center of Beijing on Thursday.

    Members of the group are selected from a reserve division in Beijing and include civil servants, company officials, workers, college students and retired servicemen, Bai Zhihong, head of the formation, said before the parade. Full story

China's armored vehicles roll into Tian'anmen Square

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen formations of armored vehicles from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) rumbled past Beijing's Tian'anmen Square Thursday.

    The armored vehicle show was the biggest and most varied in the history of the National Day military parades since Oct. 1, 1949, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded. Full story

First three-service women formation debuts in military parade

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - A military formation, consisting of women soldiers from the land, naval and air forces, made its debut in the National Day military parade in Beijing on Thursday.

    Thousands of crisp-uniformed Chinese servicemen and women, in 14 phalanxes, marched past the Tian'anmen Rostrum, where Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of New China. Full story

Biggest, best military band of National Day parade puts on show

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A 1,300-member military band, which is dubbed by its conductor as "the biggest and best" band in China, is scheduled to present a non-stop two-hour show Thursday as a grand military parade and a civilian pageant proceed. Full story

Army special forces debut at National Day parade

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The special operations forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) made their first public appearance Thursday in the National Day military parade on Tian'anmen Square.

    The soldiers, in brown camouflage uniforms, were holding silenced submachine guns. Full story

PLA Guard of Honor heralds military review

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - China's military parade reached a climax as a formation of Guard of Honor of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) three services marched past Tian'anmen in the center of Beijing.

    The tall and handsome soldiers, dressed in green, white and blue ceremonial PLA uniforms, marched past Tian'anmen in swift and impeccable goosesteps, leaving spectators intoxicated in admiration. Full story

Chinese President orders armed forces to make new contributions to world peace

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday called on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) to make new contributions to safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, as well as to maintaining world peace. Full story

Special Report: 60th Anniversary of Founding of PRC