The 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 庆祝中华人民共和国成立70周年) was observed with a series of ceremonial events including a grand military parade as its spotlight to celebrate National Day of the People's Republic of China that took place on 1 October 2019 in Beijing. It was the largest military parade and mass pageant in Chinese history.^[2]

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Xi Jinping, who was the guest of honour, gave the holiday address to the nation and Chinese expatriates before inspecting the formations along Chang'an Avenue.^[3] Premier Li Keqiang was the master of ceremonies and General Yi Xiaoguang was the chief commander of the parade.

The CCP had defeated the Kuomintang Party following the Chinese Civil War, which occurred intermittently between 1927 and 1950 In the aftermath of the civil war, the Kuomintang and its loyalists then retreated to the island of Taiwan, formerly a prefecture of the Qing Empire, which had been under Japanese colonial rule from 1895 to 1945.

The founding of the People's Republic of China was formally proclaimed by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, on 1 October 1949 at 3:00 pm in Tiananmen Square in Beijing (formerly Beiping), the new capital (Nanjing had been the capital of the former Republic of China). The first public parade of the then new People's Liberation Army took place there, following the chairman's address of the formal foundation of the new republic. Before this, as the national anthem March of the Volunteers was played, the new national flag of the People's Republic of China was officially unveiled to the newly founded nation and hoisted for the first time during the celebrations as a 21-gun salute fired in the distance.

In its early years, the People's Republic of China was not internationally recognized as the Republic of China held its seat in the United Nations and the Security Council as the sole legitimate government of "China" by the United States and western nations. In 1971, the PRC was admitted to the United Nations and thus excluded the ROC from United Nations membership.

Since the establishment of the PRC, celebrations of varying scales occur on National Day each year. Military parades, presided over by chairman Mao Zedong, were held every year between 1949 and 1959, the first decade of the PRC. In September 1960, the Chinese leadership decided that to save funds and "be frugal", large-scale ceremonies for National Day would only be held every ten years, with a smaller-scale ceremony every five years.^[1](The tradition of the yearly parade, though, would be partially revived with parades held in 1969 and 1970.) Since China's opening and reform, the most prominent National Day celebrations have taken place in 1984, 1999, and 2009 at the 35th, 50th and 60th anniversaries respectively.

The 70th national anniversary parade was the fifth major parade since Xi Jinping took power as CCP General Secretary (China's paramount leader) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (Commander-in-chief) in 2012, and occurred with the mass protests in Hong Kong that have been on-going since 9 June as backdrop.^[4]

The official logo for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was officially unveiled by the State Council Information Office on 3 June 2019.^[5] Many celebrations throughout China and overseas Chinese communities were planned for the year of 2019. In early September, rehearsals took place in central Beijing for the military parade. General Cai Zhijun of the Joint General Staff said in a press briefing that it would not be targeted "at any countries or districts" but rather would be "committed to safeguarding world peace and regional stability".^[6] It was expected to be bigger than the parades commemorating the 50th and 60th anniversary of the PRC, as well as the 2015 China Victory Day Parade.^[7]

The capital was covered with red flags, adorning apartment compounds and neighbourhoods; banners reading "Today's China is the result of the work of Chinese people" were draped across overpasses, and topiaries were installed around the roads in Beijing.^[8] The authorities gave out 620,000 television sets allowing those not invited to still be able to watch the festivities.^[8]

Although a massive National Day fireworks display had been planned along the harbour in Hong Kong to celebrate the 70th anniversary – as it has done every year since 1997, Hong Kong government cancelled them "for safety reasons" over the protests in the city that have lasted since March. A more low-key celebration was planned in the territory.^[9][8]

Hong Kong protesters marked a "national day of mourning".^[12] In defiance of a police ban on the annual march that the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) applied for, four veteran democrats led a rally from Causeway Bay to Central, mourning the victims of CCP rule and calling for the end of one-party rule in mainland China.^[12] Simultaneously, protesters held rallies in Wong Tai Sin, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Sham Shui Po,^[12] which drew tens of thousands of participants.^[13] The protests were initially peaceful, but violent incidents occurred later during the day. MTR stations and businesses that were thought to be associated with the mainland were vandalised.^[13] Multiple warning shots were fired in various popular districts; in Tsuen Wan, a police officer fired a live round at an 18-year-old male secondary school student who tried to take his revolver at point blank range with it.^[14][15] It was the first live round fired at a person by the Hong Kong police in this series of protests.^[13][16] The protester was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.^[17]

China Media Group (CMG), the state-owned holding firm of the China Central Television (CCTV) network and the China Global Television Network (CGTN) international channels, was expected to mainly broadcast synchronously for domestic and foreign TV channels with CCTV-1 as the producing channel for the celebrations, while national, provincial and city broadcasters and TV stations, domestic internet video, portals, and live webcast sites also broadcast the event simultaneously via the CCTV-1 feed. CGTN broadcast the events live overseas and online, including on YouTube, in multiple languages. In addition, China National Radio and China Radio International, both also owned by CMG, served as the official radio stations broadcasting the festivities. On 4 September 2019, CMG held a mobilization meeting to celebrate the 70th anniversary. More than 260 representatives from its member companies attended the event.^[18]

Various overseas media also paid attention to the coverage of this event, and those who already met the conditions could broadcast it worldwide. The "press centre for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China" was based in Beijing's Media Center and was officially launched on 23 September.^[19]

A "special clean-up operation" was initiated targeting "harmful political information" and any Sina Weibo accounts or posts that "distort the history of the party and the country".^{[citation needed]}

This section does not cite any sources. (May 2023)

To mark the special anniversary of national foundation, on Sunday, 29 September, the celebrations began with the CCTV-produced musical concert gala The Nation Moves Onward aired nationwide on CCTV-1 live from the Great Auditorium of the Beijing Great Hall of the People, in which Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman and general secretary of the CCP Xi Jinping attended as guest of honour together with other party and national leaders, veterans of the PLA and other invited guests.

This section does not cite any sources. (May 2023)

The 15th annual wreath laying ceremony in honour of the heroes and martyrs of the Chinese nation and people was held in earnest on 30 September, National Memorial Day, on the grounds of Tiananmen Square which CMC Chairman and General Secretary of the CCP Xi Jinping attended as guest of honour, together with other party and national leaders, veterans of the PLA, distinguished citizens, the Young Pioneers and representatives of the civil service and the private sector, in which flowers and wreaths were laid in the Monument to the People's Heroes.

In an earlier ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, 42 individuals, including several foreigners, were awarded by paramount leader Xi as part of the National Day honours list (several of the awards were posthumous) with national orders and decorations for merit and service to the republic and people as well as to contributing to enhanced ties with foreign countries.

A 90-minute grand evening gala was slated to be held at the Tiananmen Square at 8:00 p.m. 60,000 people attended the evening gala, including a total of at least 6,940 performers at the grounds of the square. CMC Chairman and General Secretary Xi Jinping was the guest of honour of the gala night, together with other party and national leaders present.^[23][24]

In Taiwan, the governing pro-independence party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) denounced the PRC and CCP as threats to peace and trying to find excuses for its military expansion and rejects the "One country, two systems" model.^[25] DPP leader and ROC president Tsai Ing-wen told reporters that "We are a country of democracy and freedom and will show support for anyone in the world who pursues democracy and freedom. Likewise, any ruler should carefully listen to the people's pursuit of freedom and democracy and respect the people's will."

Some members of the pro-unification opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) called on the DPP to accept the 1992 Consensus while rejecting the Taiwan independence movement.^[26]

• National Day of the People's Republic of China
• Golden Week (China)
• 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
• 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
• 1987 October Revolution Parade