Extravaganza in China

China formally kicked off mass celebrations of 60 years of communist rule on Thursday with a 60-gun salute that rung out across Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square.

China will glorify the nation's six-decade revival as a global power with a tightly choreographed display of mass patriotism including a military parade and spectacular pageant depicting the Communist Party-led rebirth.

President Hu Jintao, who reviewed troops from an open limousine, was to deliver a speech at the historic square to an invitation-only audience of spectators and foreign dignitaries, with security air-tight across the city.

China typically holds grand celebrations every 10 years to commemorate revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1 1949.

But this year's festivities promise to top those staged in the past, with estimates of 200 000 people taking part in an extravaganza that officials say will outdo even last year's lavish opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

The authorities want to send a clear message: that China has re-emerged as an undeniable force in the world.