China will display 56 military formations including anti-ship missiles, anti- aircraft missiles, unmanned surveillance aircraft and fighter jets next week in its biggest military parade in a decade, a senior military official said yesterday.

The parade, scheduled for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Communist party rule in China on October 1, will “highlight the People's Liberation Army's shift from quantity to quality, from manpower to technology,” said General Gao Jianguo, deputy director of the National Day Military Parade Joint Command.

First and foremost, the show of force – rehearsed on each of the past three weekends under a complete lockdown of central Beijing for more than 12 hours – is an opportunity for the government to show off the achievements of its modernisation efforts.