447 overseas Chinese groups to hold Nanjing Massacre memorials

NANJING - A total of 447 overseas Chinese groups plan to hold memorial ceremonies for Nanjing Massacre victims Wednesday.

More than 10,000 overseas Chinese people in countries, including the Unites States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Argentina, are expected to attend the ceremonies.

China will hold an annual memorial in the eastern city of Nanjing Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the massacre.

"The memorials are held worldwide to remind us of history, and the value of world peace," said Zhang Jianjun, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

On Dec. 13, 1937, Nanjing fell to Japanese invaders who went on a more than one-month-long slaughter of civilians and soldiers who had put down their arms. About 300,000 Chinese were killed, and 20,000 women raped.

In February 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec. 13 as a national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.