The 60th anniversary parade of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was held on October 1, 2009 at Tiananmen (Heavenly Peace) Square in Beijing. About 10,000 soldiers and many of the most modern weapons of the Chinese armed forces took part in it. The parade was received by Hu Jintao, the then leader of communist China. The parade was preceded by special and extensive preparations and special protection of the Chinese police and other uniformed services was given over it. It is estimated that the parade was watched by approximately 30,000 people and millions of PRC citizens in front of televisions. The parade was probably reported by around 1,300 journalists from over 100 countries around the world, and its cost was estimated at around USD 45 million. It is worth noting that many types of weapons of the Chinese armed forces were presented, including: ZTZ-99 tanks, ZBD-2000 amphibious vehicles, ZBD-97 IFVs and Type 05 self-propelled howitzers. It is assumed that the parade was a show of growing military forces and aspirations political PRC. It was also a demonstration of the efficiency of the Chinese armed forces.
The Marine Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was formed in 1953, and its main task was to conduct landing operations on the islands occupied by the Kuomintang - especially in Taiwan. Relatively quickly, its number grew to around 110,000 soldiers, but in 1957 this formation was disbanded. However, it was reformed in the period 1979-1980 and still exists today. It is assumed that the Chinese Marine Corps is currently composed of two brigades (1st Brigade and 164th Brigade), each of which has 6,000 soldiers. The 77th Motorized Infantry Brigade, delegated from the land forces, is also trained to closely cooperate with them. It is assumed that at the time of mobilization, the Corps may increase to approx. 28-30 thousand. people. Each of the two brigades of the Chinese Marine Corps consists of, among others, a mechanized / armored regiment with light amphibious tanks and amphibious vehicles in stock, two marines, a self-propelled howitzer battalion or a missile battalion. The brigade's equipment includes: ZTD-05 light tanks, ZBD-05 amphibious vehicles and PLZ-07 self-propelled howitzers. The basic firearms are the Type 88-1 and Type 95 (QBZ-95) carbines.