China's national flag was raised and then lowered at half-mast during a memorial ceremony in east China's Nanjing City on Saturday to mourn the Nanjing Massacre victims killed during the Japanese aggression in the 1930s-1940s in China.
The ceremony was held at 08:00 at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, with people from all walks of life attending the memorial event.
The guard of honor raised the national flag to the top of the flagpole. After several seconds, the flag slowly descended to half-mast, marking the start of a national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
Saturday marks the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, which was formally established on Feb 27, 2014, by the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress, designating Dec 13 as an annual day of remembrance through legislative procedure.
This year's observance carried particular significance, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The Nanjing Massacre took place after Japanese forces captured Nanjing, then the Chinese capital, on Dec 13, 1937 and began six weeks of slaughter that claimed the lives of more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers.
Eight survivors have passed away since the beginning of 2025, reducing the number of living registered survivors to 24 with the eldest being 102 years old, according to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.
China's national flag flies at half-mast to mourn Nanjing Massacre victims
