Photo taken on Dec 13, 2015 shows the scene of state memorial ceremony for China's second National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims at the memorial hall for the massacre victims in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

NANJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council held a memorial for Nanjing Massacre victims in the eastern city of Nanjing Sunday.

Li Jianguo, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, addressed the event at the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

"When we recall that day, one of the darkest and most painful scenes in our history rises once again before our eyes", Li said, adding that the massacre will always be remembered in China.

Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then China's capital, on Dec 13 of 1937 and started a campaign of slaughter lasting more than a month. More than 300,000 unarmed Chinese soldiers and civilians were murdered and over 20,000 women were raped.

In February 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec 13 as the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims.

Li said the purpose of the memorial is to highlight that all reasonable people cherish peace and to promote a peaceful future, not to try to prolong hatred.

Though China-Japan relations have been strained lately, Li said substantial progress has been made since the two sides normalized relations in 1972.

They should "continuously push forward good-neighborly and friendly cooperation and make a joint contribution to world peace and human progress," he added.