Beijing will deploy half a million security guards and volunteers to prevent any disruptions to October 1 ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of Communist China, state media said yesterday.

"The success of the celebration ceremony will rest largely on its safety," Ma Zhenchun, director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Ceremonies to mark the founding of the People's Republic will include a military parade and visits by foreign dignitaries.

The report said the National Day security figures did not include police, whose numbers had not yet been determined.

China has braced this year for a string of politically sensitive anniversaries including the 20th anniversary earlier this month of the bloody crackdown on 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests.

Massive security flooded the huge square on the anniversary and dissidents reported being taken out of Beijing or placed under tighter restrictions.

The National Day military parade is due to pass the square, where top Chinese leaders will watch from a reviewing stand.

Mr Ma said his bureau "would learn from the 2008 Beijing Olympics security experience."

The Olympics last August saw more than 100,000 police, armed forces and "public order volunteers" deployed amid fears of possible attacks by Islamic separatists from western China or protests by government critics.

The official China Daily newspaper said National Day security would be tightened beginning on Wednesday, start of the 100-day countdown to October 1.

"Security will be stepped up in the capital from today until the end of the (National Day holidays), when security standards will be as stringent as those during the Beijing Olympic Games," it said.

"Vigilance around Tiananmen Square at that time will absolutely be harsher than early this month," the paper quoted, Wu Shunfa, a police official in charge of security at the square, as saying.

It also quoted Vice Minister for Public Security Yang Huanning as saying authorities "would ensure this celebration was a happy and festive one."