China to mark 70th anniversary of PRC founding with parade on October 1

China on Thursday unveiled its celebration plan to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the National Day, October 1 in Beijing.

Tiananmen Square in Beijing. [File Photo: IC]

Wang Xiaohui, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, briefed the media on the plans at a press conference.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver an important speech at the grand gathering, which is to be followed by a military parade and a mass pageantry, according to Wang.

In the evening, CPC and state leaders will join people from all walks of life in a grand festive get-together for fireworks show and art performance, he added.

National medals, honorary titles and the Medal of the Republic, the country's highest honor, will be awarded for the first time to prominent figures who have made outstanding contributions to the construction and the development of the PRC.

Medals of Friendship will also be awarded to foreigners who have made significant contributions to China's socialist modernization drive and promoted exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

A commemoration ceremony will be held the day before the National Day at the Monument to the People's Heroes in downtown Beijing's Tian'anmen Square.