A solemn memorial ceremony was held in Beijing on Wednesday to mark the 83rd anniversary of the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution.

Nearly 200 people from all walks of life attended the ceremony in the memorial hall of Zhongshan Park in the Chinese capital.

The ceremony was presided over by Li Wuwei, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), one of China's eight non-communist parties.

Also present were representatives from the National People's Congress (NPC), the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the RCCK Central Committee and officials from the Beijing municipal government.

Sun, who died of an illness on March 12, 1925, was born in 1866 in Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City) in south China's Guangdong Province.

Sun is known to the Chinese as a "great revolutionary and statesman" who fought against feudalism and imperialist aggression and for the independence and freedom of the Chinese people. Memorial ceremonies are held every year on the date of his death around the nation.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 13, 2008)