The top military command has told People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel selected for the special parade on National Day this year to "fully understand the historical significance" of the event.

The Central Military Commission (CMC) said on Tuesday that the highest-level parade would showcase the PLA's first-class organization, weapons, training and high morale.

The parade will be held on Oct 1 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and display more arms and weapons than previous parades.

On Jan 20, a Ministry of Defense announcement said the parade would be a "frugal and cost-effective" show of the country's most sophisticated weapon systems.

Among other dignitaries, President Hu Jintao, who is also the CMC chairman, will watch the parade.

With less than eight months to go, the CMC has asked the chosen troops to be fully prepared for the event.

Preparations include rigorous training for a synchronized march along Chang'an Avenue - the main east-west thoroughfare in the capital - and across Tian'anmen Square, from where Chairman Mao Zedong declared the founding of the PRC on Oct 1, 1949.

The CMC said the troops come from the PLA's seven military commands, all the services, military universities and forces under the central military authority.

Although the CMC did not release further details about the troops or the equipment that would be part of the event, it said the parade would involve units with heroic traditions, as well as units and individuals that have fulfilled important military tasks.

The parade will showcase new weapons of the Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery Corps, it said.

To demonstrate the integrity of the country's armed forces, formations comprising weapon systems used by the Chinese People's Armed Police Force would be on display, too.

The CMC said the parade will also promote national pride and self-confidence.

"As the global financial crisis spreads and some critical problems in the domestic economy persist along with other uncertainties in the international community, holding such a parade will significantly increase national pride among the people and their self-confidence," it said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2009)