Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called on the younger generation to recall the event, draw inspiration on it and work to ensure that harmony prevails on the road to the country’s progress.

She also urged leaders at all levels to strengthen the results of the eradication of extreme poverty, solve the imbalance in development and contribute to achieving the long-awaited common prosperity in China.

Sun made those statements while addressing the State ceremony on the occasion of the 84th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, as the crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in the then Chinese capital are called.

Thousands of people from all social sectors gathered in front of the memorial built in tribute to more than 300,000 inhabitants who were brutally murdered at the time.

On December 13, 1937, Japanese troops invaded Nanjing, capital of East China’s Jiangsu province, and over a period of six weeks, they destroyed, looted and killed thousands of innocent people.

Seven years ago, the National People’s Congress (Parliament) designated December 13 as National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims and the city has become China’s first International City of Peace in September 2017.

The event is considered one of the worst holocausts in modern history.

pgh/iff/jf/ymr