Karl Marx's home town is holding a party for the "Communist Manifesto" author's bicentenary, and China is paying for the birthday gift.

Trier, in western Germany, is bracing for big crowds for the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth this weekend, with political speeches, competing demonstrations and the unveiling of a statue designed and funded by China. The extent of the outside interest has surprised the sleepy city on the Moselle River.

People in Trier, which was part of capitalist West Germany after World War II, "have long been a bit ashamed about Marx," said city spokesman Michael Schmitz, who has played host to Chinese state television and six reporters from the state-run Xinhua News Agency. "We are aware of the fact that this is part of a larger Marx revival in China," Schmitz said.