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SCMP Reporter

A new made-in-China Hongqi limousine will be the vehicle in which President Hu Jintao  will ride when he inspects thousands of soldiers along Changan Avenue during the climax of the grand military parade in Beijing today.
Last week, officials from First Automobile Works  (FAW), based in Jilin , were quoted by the Jiefang Daily  in Shanghai as saying that its Hongqi (or 'Red Flag')  HQE model had been selected for the  parade.
Quoted by Guangzhou-based Nanfang Metropolis News, Guo Shijun , a FAW official  in charge of the development of the Hongqi sedan, said the HQE was a handmade  limousine with an all-aluminium body, six metres in length and with three rows of seats.
The limousines reportedly cost  3 million yuan (HK$3.4 million) each. 
Dubbed the 'Chinese  Bentley', the top-class  Hongqi is one of a few Chinese brand names famous for decades. FAW also made the first limousine in China in 1958.
In 1956, former top leader Mao Zedong   voiced his expectations about the development of a Chinese carmaking industry to some of his  colleagues, saying: 'It must be more than appreciation when we manage to ride in homemade sedans for our meetings  in the future.'
Taking a limousine manufactured by US  car giant Chrysler as its model, thousands of workers at FAW produced that first limousine, though many  crucial components, including the  gear box, were directly transferred from the Chrysler.
Riding in the Hongqi CA72 sedan, then defence minister Lin Biao inspected soldiers along Changan Avenue on October 1, 1959, the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
Hongqi limousines were exclusively reserved for the nation's top leaders or visiting  dignitaries for decades until the 1980s. Riding in a Hongqi, being received by Mao and staying at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse  were said to be the three necessary elements for a top-level reception of foreign guests in Beijing.
Production of Hongqi cars was suspended from 1981 to 1983, when Deng Xiaoping   decided to use another Chinese-made limousine to inspect a military parade.




New 'Chinese Bentley' rolled out for president