Improved relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will be showcased during the upcoming celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), a mainland official said Wednesday.

The mainland-Taiwan relationship has undergone profound changes and the PRC has made enormous achievements in the work involving Taiwan affairs since the PRC was founded on October 1, 1949, said Yang Yi, State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman.

"So it's reasonable to include such achievements in the National Day celebrations," he told a press conference, but gave no more details of the plan.

"We will invite some Taiwan compatriots to attend the celebrations in accordance with the practice in the past. But the details are still under negotiation," he said.

Yang added that a total of 48 Taiwan journalists representing 17 media organizations on the island applied to report the National Day activities.

The massive celebrations on October 1 in downtown Beijing will feature a mass parade involving about 200,000 people and a military review. Dozens of floats are expected to join the parade, whose themed decorations could form a display of various achievements made by China in the past six decades.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2009)