Senior CPC official stresses peaceful development at memorial ceremony for Nanjing Massacre victims

NANJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Li Hongzhong attended a national memorial ceremony on Wednesday for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, delivering a speech in which he stressed the Chinese people's aspiration for peaceful development and the great endeavor of national rejuvenation.

Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the remarks while speaking the 10th national memorial ceremony in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province. The memorial ceremony was held by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in honor of the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre perpetrated by Japanese invaders during World War II.

Li said that the memorial ceremony is dedicated to all the innocent victims of the Nanjing Massacre, all the fellow countrymen killed by Japanese invaders, as well as all the revolutionary martyrs, national heroes and international comrades who sacrificed their lives in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

The memorial ceremony expresses the Chinese people's noble desire to steadfastly pursue peaceful development and demonstrates their firm stance to always remember history, cherish peace and forge ahead for a brighter future, Li said.

Noting that today's China is a vigorous and thriving nation, Li urged efforts to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and to strive toward the great goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

The memorial ceremony was presided over by State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council Wu Zhenglong. The attendees also included representatives of veterans who fought in Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, leading officials from relevant central authorities, Nanjing Massacre survivors and relatives of the massacre victims, as well as people from various sectors of Jiangsu.