China military parade marks 90th anniversary of PLA

It is world's largest standing military

BEIJING: China held a parade of its armed forces Sunday to mark the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army [PLA] in a display of military might.

Chinese military helicopters fly in a formation to make the number '90' during a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. PHOTO: AFP

Since coming to power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has led efforts to modernise the PLA - still the world's largest standing military - and to consolidate the ruling Communist Party's control over the armed forces.



Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jets fly past during a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. PHOTO: AFP

At the expansive Zhurihe training base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region, Xi, who has also trumpeted building a stronger, combat-ready army, appeared wearing a camouflage military suit.

He stood inside an open-top field jeep that drove past lines of troops for his inspection. "Comrades, you have worked hard," he said, to which the troops responded: "We are serving the people!"

The Chinese flag is raised during a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. PHOTO: AFP

China said in March it would raise its defence spending by around seven percent this year, the slowest annual percentage increase since 1991.



Beijing is engaged in a decades-long build-up and modernisation of its once-backward armed forces, as it seeks military clout commensurate with its economic might and increasingly asserts its disputed territorial claims in Asian waters.

Chinese Type 99A tanks take part in a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. PHOTO: AFP

The PLA, originally called the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, was founded in 1927 when Communist soldiers seized the southern Jiangxi provincial town of Nanchang from Nationalist Party ['Kuomintang'] armies in what is known today as the Nanchang uprising.

Chinese soldiers march in a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. PHOTO: AFP

Army felicitates China on 90th anniversary of PLA

Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has congratulated China on completing 90th year of the PLA. In a statement on Monday, ISPR chief Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said the country's armed forces "felicitate Chinese PLA on its 90th founding Day."

🇵🇰🇨🇳
Pakistan Armed Forces felicitate Chinese PLA on its 90th Founding Day.
Best wishes from COAS.
Long live Pak China friendship, 中巴友谊万岁. pic.twitter.com/tzlRCaX4jY

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) July 31, 2017