Gala performances and celebratory television programmes have been taking place. An epic patriotic film featuring many of China's biggest stars has been released.

A ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing is being attended by the country's top leaders.

The CPC has more than 80 million members, making it the biggest political party in the world.

Established in July 1921 in Shanghai by a small group of intellectuals, it took power in 1949 after defeating the Nationalist Party in a long civil war.

Under Mao Zedong, China's first communist leader, the CPC began the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

But after Mao's death in 1976, his successor Deng Xiaoping introduced market reforms which helped turn China into the world's second-largest economy.

Hundreds of millions no longer battle poverty, and many are richer than they could ever have hoped.

Ahead of anniversary on July 1, propaganda officials oversaw the production of a film on the founding of the CPC, Beginning of the Great Revival.

There have also been a new official history book, and a large number of exhibitions.

The government also launched a new US$33bn high-speed rail link, while the country's first aircraft carrier may begin sea trials on July 1.