HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government held a ceremony on Saturday to mourn the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Zhou Ji and Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu attended the ceremony together with principal officials of the government, members of the HKSAR Executive Council, representatives of HKSAR deputies to the National People's Congress, representatives of HKSAR members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, former members of the Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Brigade of the East River Column, as well as representatives of veteran groups.

The participants sang China's national anthem and observed a moment of silence. Lee laid a wreath to mourn the victims.

The Nanjing Massacre took place after the Japanese Imperial Army captured the city in eastern China on Dec 13, 1937. The Japanese invaders brutally killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in over six weeks in one of the most barbaric atrocities during World War II.

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In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Since then, the HKSAR government and civil groups have organized memorial ceremonies annually.