A new monument was unveiled yesterday in Shanghai to commemorate people massacred by Japanese invasion forces in Luojing county on August 23, 1937.

Municipal cultural relics administrative bureau officials and local residents attended the unveiling ceremony.

Officials hope the monument will help the younger generation learn more about history and pay tribute to the victims.

On August 13, 1937, the Japanese Army started to bomb the Zhabei District of Shanghai and Chinese troops fought back. On the morning of August 23, 1937, the 11th division of the Japanese Army landed at the mouth of Chuansha River of the present Baoshan District, burning, killing, raping and looting wherever they went.

Zhang Jiaying, one of the survivors of the Luojing Massacre, who is now in his 70s, said: "The Japanese invaders committed numerous bloody crimes here. Four of my relatives were burnt to death in the massacre and our seven houses were reduced to ashes."

Historians said within 100 days of the Japanese landing in Shanghai, 2,244 innocent people in the Luojing area were brutally killed and 10,908 houses were burnt down.

A memorial monument was set up in Luojing on August 13, 1973, however, its location was very close to a highway and the monument was damaged.

(China Daily August 14, 2003)