BEIJING - THE Chinese air force will show off new high-tech equipment at a grand military parade planned for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Communist state, local media said on Tuesday.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force will put on display new aeroplanes and surface-to-air missiles, the Beijing News reported, citing Wei Gang, the head of the air force armament department.

Among the aircraft to be showcased in the military parade planned for the centre of Beijing on Oct 1 will be the fourth-generation J-10 fighter plane, which has rarely been seen in public.

China's air force has benefited immensely from increased military budgets in recent years and has been in the process of replacing its outdated planes with more sophisticated aircraft.

As in the past, soldiers, tanks and missiles will parade down Beijing's Avenue of Heavenly Peace on Oct 1 before gathering in front of the huge portrait of revolutionary leader Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square.

The display of force is largely modelled on the former Soviet Union's military parades in Moscow's Red Square.

The 1989 parade for the 40th anniversary was cancelled after the military crushed democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in June that year. -- AFP