BEIJING - CHINA hopes to avoid any hints of extravagance as it prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of communist rule amid the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, state media said Tuesday.

In the southern province of Guangdong, celebrity performances to mark the founding of the people's republic six decades ago on Oct 1 would be considered 'a waste of money,' the Xinhua news agency reported.

Elaborate invitation cards for anniversary events would also be frowned upon, Xinhua said, citing Guangdong governor Huang Huahua.

He made the remarks while describing a general belt-tightening drive made necessary by the global financial crisis, according to Xinhua.

An earlier report in the state-run China Daily newspaper said that a traditional military parade to be held in Beijing on the first day of October would be a scaled-down version of earlier spectacular events.

'Extravagance will give way to solemnity,' the paper said, adding the money saved in this way would be diverted to reconstruction projects in areas in southwest China hit by the May earthquake.

'It has been the tradition to hold a grand military parade every 10 years to highlight the country's economic and military development,' said Prof Shi Yinhong, a professor at People's University in Beijing.

'But it's also necessary to be economical in the face of the global financial crisis,' he told the paper.

China initially hoped it could avoid major fall-out from the global crisis, but recent economic data suggests it will also take a big hit, mainly because its economy is heavily dependent on exports to developed economies.

The Chinese economy increased by nine per cent in the third quarter, the lowest in more than five years.

The World Bank has forecast that growth in the Chinese economy will slow to 7.5 per cent in 2009, a level not seen for 19 years. -- AFP