China welcomed a bill to designate December 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day by the Canadian province of Ontario, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday in Beijing.

"The Nanjing Massacre is a heinous crime committed by the Japanese militarists during the World War II, and a piece of horrific history that can not be denied," spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Media reports said Japan's Liberal Democratic Party plans to send lawmakers to Canada to lobby against the designation of the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese lives were taken by Japanese invaders when they occupied Nanjing from Dec. 13, 1937.