The China Daily newspaper said, citing a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, that the October 1 parade would be held in an "economical manner" as the government plans to spend only 300 million yuan ($44 million) on it.
"Chinese military forces have a tradition of fulfilling big causes by spending small amounts of money," Senior Colonel Chen Zhou, an expert with the People's Liberation Army's Military Science Academy, told the newspaper.
The parade, to be held on Beijing's Avenue of Heavenly Peace, will involve soldiers, tanks and missiles.
"We can see that the parade on National Day will be solemn and cost-effective," Chen told the newspaper.
Earlier media reports said some 16 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) could be spent on the parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. In a poll, some 85% of people asked as to whether the government should hold a grand and expensive parade answered positively.