National Day of the People's Republic of China

Although it is observed on 1 October, another six days are added to the official holiday, normally in lieu of the two weekend breaks around 1 October, making it a de facto public holiday comprising seven consecutive days also known as Golden Week with specifics regulated by the State Council. Festivities and concerts are usually held nationwide on this day, with a grand military parade and mass pageant event held on select years. The parade held on 1 October 2019 marked the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

History

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) defeated the incumbent Kuomintang (KMT) nationalist government of the Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War that took place from 1927 to 1950 except for a brief alliance against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In its aftermath, the nationalist government withdrew to the island of Taiwan, previously a prefecture of the Qing Empire that was ceded to Japan under its colonial rule from 1895 to 1945.

The People's Republic of China was founded on 1 October 1949, with a ceremony celebrating the forming of the Central People's Government taking place in Tiananmen Square in its new national capital of Peking (previously Peiping) on the same day that year. The first public parade of the new People's Liberation Army took place there, following the address by the first CCP Chairman Mao Zedong officially declaring the formal establishment of the Republic.

After the Founding Ceremony, Ma Xulun, the Minister of Education and Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, believed that China should establish its own National Day. He drafted a proposal entitled "Suggesting October 1 as the National Day", which he intended to present to the forthcoming first session of the 1st National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

On 9 October 1949, the meeting was held at the Qinzheng Hall in Zhongnanhai, where Ma Xulun, due to illness, had his proposal conveyed by Xu Guangping. The Secretary General of the Central People's Government, Lin Boqu, spoke in favor of the proposal, and Mao Zedong also expressed his support. Finally, the meeting unanimously adopted the proposal and made a resolution "Requesting the Government to designate October 1 as the National Day of the People's Republic of China to replace the old National Day of October 10", which was sent to the Central People's Government for adoption and implementation.

On 2 December 1949, the Fourth Session of the Central People's Government Committee (Chinese: 中央人民政府委员会) adopted the Resolution on the National Day of the People's Republic of China, which proclaimed that since 1950, 1 October of each year, the day on which the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, would be the National Day of the People's Republic of China.

On 23 December 1949, the Twelfth Political Affairs Conference of the State Council of the Central People's Government (Chinese: 中央人民政府政务院) passed the Measures for National Holidays on Annual and Memorial Days, stipulating that National Day should be a national holiday for all the people as 1 and 2 October. On 1 October 1950, the first National Day celebrations were held in Tiananmen Square.

In September 1960, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council implemented the policy of "practicing economy and frugality to build up the country", and reformed the system of National Day ceremonies by implementing "one small celebration in five years and one big parade in ten years". In 1984, based on paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's proposal, the Central Committee decided to hold a large National Day parade on the 35th anniversary of the National Day in that year. In 1999, the Central Committee decided to hold a military parade for the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, and a large-scale military parade was held on 1 October of the same year in Tiananmen Square. In 2009, a large military parade was held on the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China on the National Day. In 2019, a grand celebration of the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China was held in Beijing on the National Day.