Beijing  - Chinese President Hu Jintao met foreign naval officers Thursday ahead of a planned parade of China's warships, including the first public viewing of its nuclear submarines.

Hu met the heads of foreign naval delegations in the eastern port of Qingdao Thursday morning before the parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy, the government said.

The parade in Qingdao was to include dozens of ships and planes, the first showing of Chinese nuclear submarines, and a fleet review of 21 foreign vessels from 14 nations, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"It is not a secret that China has nuclear submarines, which are key to safeguarding our country's national security," Ding Yiping, China's deputy naval commander, told the agency earlier this week.

Ding said China's defence policy and nuclear strategy were "purely defensive in nature" and posed no threat to other nations.

Ding did not tell the agency how many nuclear submarines China has built but said the number was "far less than those of the United States and Russia."

The China Daily newspaper said two nuclear-powered submarines, the Long March 6 and the Long March 3, would take part in Thursday's parade.

China started developing nuclear submarines in the 1960s and could have up to 10 in its current fleet, according to foreign naval analysts.

Speculation has also mounted that China could use Thursday's anniversary to confirm plans to build its first aircraft carrier.

The parade follows recent diplomatic tension with several South-East Asian nations over disputed areas of the South China Sea and a standoff between Chinese vessels and a US naval surveillance ship off China's southern island of Hainan.

"China needs a sustainable naval force that can always protect its expanding interests," the China Daily quoted analyst Peng Guangqian as saying. (dpa)