China held a memorial ceremony on Monday at a memorial hall in Nanjing City, east China's Jiangsu Province, to mourn the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

In 2014, China's top legislature designated December 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, which took place after Japanese troops captured the city on December 13, 1937. 

The Japanese invaders brutally killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers during the six-week massacre, making it one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

Families of survivors, central government officials and students attended the eighth national memorial ceremony for the massacre victims.

The national flag flew at half-mast in the square, and the people of Nanjing observed one minute of silence.

"We must learn from the history, and open up new opportunities in the future. This is our way to showcase our commitment to a peaceful development path," Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said at the event. 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Sun said.  

In the past century, the CPC has led the Chinese people to overcome various difficulties, and made great achievement in building socialism with Chinese characteristics, she added. 

"We must stick to the people-centered idea to face all kinds of risks in our way ahead, work with the people and bear people's interests in mind, especially when we are faced with the COVID-19 epidemic worldwide."

She called on the present officials to stand together with the people, develop the whole-process people's democracy, consolidate the results of poverty alleviation and address the imbalance in development, so as to reach common prosperity. 

China has been trying to preserve survivors' testimonies by recording them in written documents and video footage.

In September, a batch of historical materials was donated to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders as new evidence of these war crimes. 

Eighteen items, including several war logs, were collected by Daito Satoshi, the abbot of Enkoji Temple in Japan.

Other items include an official warfare report documenting the brutalities unleashed by the Japanese troops in Nanjing, such as killing prisoners of war and arson, and several war logs recording the activities of a Japanese army from October 1937 to April 1938.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government also held a memorial ceremony on Sunday morning for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam attended the ceremony and observed two minutes of silence. Then, she laid a wreath in memory of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre and the Japanese war of aggression against China.

The HKSAR government and non-governmental organizations have been holding memorial ceremonies and activities every year since 2014.