China military parade marks 90th anniversary of PLA

It is world's largest standing military

4. Chinese soldiers carry the flags of (L to R) the Communist Party, the state, and the People's Liberation Army during a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. PHOTO: AFP

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.

China likely to build military base in Pakistan: US

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.

Pak-China cultural streets on the cards 

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."

Load Next Story