50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China

The 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 1999.^[2][3] A military parade was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country. China's paramount leader Jiang Zemin inspected the troops along Chang'an Avenue in Beijing. This parade was immediately followed by a civilian parade.

Quick Facts 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China 庆祝中华人民共和国成立50周年活动, Genre ...

50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China 庆祝中华人民共和国成立50周年活动
Type 98 tanks on parade
Genre	Military parade, mass pageant, music and dance gala
Date(s)	1 October 1999
Frequency	Select years[A]
Location(s)	Chang'an Avenue, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China
Coordinates	39°54′26.4″N 116°23′27.9″E
Years active	75
Inaugurated	1 October 1949 (1949-10-01)
Previous event	40th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
Next event	60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
Participants	National leaders, PLA, PAP, the Militia, and other formations
Leader	Jiang Zemin (general secretary and chairman)
People	Li Xinliang (chief commander of the military parade)

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It was the first one to be held since 1984 since the 1989 parade celebrating the 40th anniversary was cancelled due to the Tiananmen Square protests. Known as the Chinese Army's Trans-Century Parade due to 1 October 1999 being months away from the turn of the 21st century, it was commanded by the Commander of Beijing Military Region Li Xinliang and inspected by then-Chairman of the Central Military Commission and General Secretary of the CCP Jiang Zemin. It was the first time that the sole Chinese leader (who served as party leader, head of state and Commander-in-Chief by this time) had inspected the parade. It was also the first time that the national flag was raised before the parade began. 42 divisions (formations) took part in this parade: 17 from the ground column and 25 from the mobile column.

China Central Television and Beijing Television was responsible for the live broadcast of the National Day celebrations military parade from 8:30 a.m. (CST) to noon, on CCTV-1, CCTV-4 and CCTV HDTV test channel

China National Radio provided live audio coverage throughout mainland China, and "Xinwen Lianbo" anchors Xing Zhibin and Luo Jing served as commentators

At 9:58 a.m., Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing, Li Lanqing and other party and state leaders came and stood atop Tiananmen amidst the welcome music.

At 10 a.m., Jia Qinglin as the Beijing municipal Communist Party Secretary was the master of ceremonies for the event., announced the begin of the "Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China". A 50-gun salute was fired, and 200 National Flag Guard of the Armed Police walked down from the Monument to the People's Heroes, passing the portrait of Sun Yat-sen and walked along the central axis to the flag-raising area. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Military Band (中国人民解放军联合军乐团) composed of more than 1,100 people played the "National Anthem of the People's Republic of China", and the audience sang in unison. The Five-star red flag was rising and flying high over the square

At 10:07 a.m. Jiang Zemin inspected the troops standing onto a Hongqi CA772TJ limousine with a license 申A 02156. drove out of Tiananmen Gate.

General Li Xinliang, chief commander of the military parade and commander of the Beijing Military Region, took a review car from the East Red Wall to the Jinshui Bridge, and went forward to report to President Jiang Zemin:

"Comrade Chairman, the troops under review are ready. Please review them!"

"Start!" President Jiang Zemin issued an order. Following an order, more than 1,000 military band members played "Troops Review March of the PLA"

At 10:08 a.m. the review vehicle drove up to the parade line and drove slowly from west to east. Jiang Zemin reviewed the troops accompanied by Li Xinliang. ground force formations, navy formations, air force formations and militia formations stands on Chang'an Avenue. The inspection cars passed by one after another

The inspection cars drove past the troops, and the officers and soldiers under review show respect to President Jiang Zemin. The reviewing car passed by the tanks, missiles and artillery painted with camouflage

After reviewing the troops, President Jiang Zemin returned to the Tiananmen and delivered a speech.

At 10:36 a.m. Lt.Gen. Chen Xitao announced the start of the Military Parade

List of participating divisions in the parade

In order of appearance (An italic unit indicates that this is its first appearance)

• PLA Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion (Chinese: 中国人民解放军三军仪仗队)
• PLA National Defence University Cadets Officers Square Formation (Chinese: 国防大学方队)
• PLA Ground Force Cadet Officers Square Formation (Chinese: 陆军学员方队)
• PLA Navy Cadet Officers Square Formation (Chinese: 海军学员方队)
• PLA Air Force Cadet Officers Square Formation (Chinese: 空军学员方队)
• PLA Ground Force Infantry Square Formation (Chinese: 陆军一步兵方队)
• PLA Ground Force Second Infantry Square Formation (Chinese: 陆军二步兵方队)
• PLA Navy Seamen Square Formation (Chinese: 海军水兵方队)
• PLA Navy Marines Corps Square Formation (Chinese: 海军陆战队方队)
• PLA Air Force Pilot Square Formation (Chinese: 空军飞行员方队)
• PLA Air Force Paratroopers Square Formation (Chinese: 空军空降兵方队)
• PLA Female Soldiers Square Formation (Chinese: 女兵方队)
• PAP Policemen Square Formation (Chinese: 人民武警警卫方队)
• PAP Special Police Units Square Formation (Chinese: 人民武警特警方队)
• PLA Reserve Service Forces Square Formation (Chinese: 预备役部队方队)
• Male Militia Square Formation (Chinese: 男民兵方队)
• Female Militia Square Formation (Chinese: 女民兵方队)

List of military vehicles paraded

The equipment are listed in the order of appearance, with new appearances in italics:

• ZTZ88 main battle tank
• ZTZ96 main battle tank
• ZTZ99/96 main battle tank
• ZBD86 infantry fighting vehicle
• ZBD97 infantry fighting vehicle
• ZSL-92 infantry fighting vehicle
• HJ-9 anti-tank missile system
• PLZ-89 122 mm self-propelled howitzer
• PTZ-89 120 mm tank destroyer
• Type-83 152 mm self-propelled howitzer
• PHZ-89 self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher
• Type 95 self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery
• PHL-81 self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher
• PLL01 155mm self-propelled mortar-howitzer
• Type-90 (GDF-002) twin-barreled 35mm anti-aircarft gun
• HQ-7 surface-to-air missile
• HHQ-61/HHQ-7 surface-to-air missile
• YJ-81 anti-ship missile
• HY-2 anti-ship missile
• HQ-2 surface-to-air missile
• S-300 surface-to-air missile
• DF-15 short range ballistic missile
• DF-11 short range ballistic missile
• DF-21 medium range ballistic missile
• DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile

List of military aircraft paraded

• Xian H-6 strategic bomber
  • along with Chengdu J-7EB fighter
• Xian H-6 strategic bomber
• Xian H-6 refueling aircraft/Shenyang J-8D refueling aircraft
• Xian JH-7 fighter-bomber
• Nanchang Q-5C ground-attack aircraft
• Chengdu J-7D fighter aircraft
• Shenyang J-8 II interceptor aircraft
• Sukhoi Su-27 air superiority fighter
• Harbin Z-9W medium multi-purpose utility helicopter
• Harbin Z-9 medium multi-purpose utility helicopter

Armored forces and artillery accounted for 70% of the parade while the airborne portion was increased to 10%.

After the military parade ended, mass pageant began. The mass pegeant consisted of three themes, namely "Founding of the Country and Entrepreneurship", "Reform and Glory", and "Century of Soaring". A total of more than 100,000 people and 91 floats participated in the parade.

More than 100,000 teenagers held bouquets and flipped cards in the square, transforming into a variety of characters and patterns