Published : 2024-08-31

On August 31, 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved the designation of September 30 of each year as the Martyrs' Day. It was also the third national day established in a legislative form in 2014.

Martyrs' Day is set on September 30 because the Monument to the People's Heroes in the centre of Tiananmen Square in Beijing was founded on the same day in 1949.

At the same time, martyrs' memorial activities on the eve of National Day, October 1, can fully embody the sentiment of "remembering the martyrs on National Day" and highlight the theme of national praise for the martyrs.

The "Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Establishing the Martyrs' Day" pointed out that, since modern times, countless heroes had sacrificed their lives for national independence, freedom, and wellbeing of people, as well as for the prosperity and strength of the nation. The merits of the martyrs shine in the annals of history and their spirit is immortal.

And as the Decision declared, September 30 each year is designated as the Martyr's Day, in order to promote the spirit of the martyrs, to commemorate their contributions, to foster the spirit of patriotism, collectivism, and the moral values of socialism, to cultivate and practice the core values of socialism, to enhance the cohesion of the Chinese nation, and to stimulate the powerful spiritual force realising the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

On the first Martyrs' Day, President Xi Jinping, along with party and state leaders, came to Tiananmen Square and attended the wreath laying ceremony in honour of the People's Heroes.