BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a grand gathering to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct 1.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver an important speech at the event.

A military parade and mass pageantry will be held following the gathering, said Wang Xiaohui, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Grand military parade to mark 70th anniversary of People's Republic of China

China will hold a grand military parade in Beijing on its National Day, which falls on Oct 1, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Major General Cai Zhijun, deputy director of the Central Military Commission's Joint Staff Department, told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that the parade, an important part of the national celebration taking place in front of Tian'anmen Square, will unveil some advance new weapons and equipment.

All the equipment displayed will be domestically developed and in service, he said.

The parade will be larger than the ones that marked the 50th and 60th anniversary of the PRC's founding and the 70th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Cai said.

He said the first grand military parade in the new era will display the achievements of national defense construction over the past 70 years and showcase an "open and confident" image of China's military after reform and restructuring.

The parade will showcase China's confidence and determination to safeguard national sovereignty and security and defend world peace and stability, Cai added.