BEIJING - A Foreign Ministry leader on Thursday urged Japan's leaders to reflect honestly on Japanese aggression following China's designation of two national days to mark victory in the anti-Japanese war and to commemorate victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Following the approval of the two national days by China's top legislature, a statement quoted an unnamed official as saying, "The approval... has great historical significance and is a necessity in the current circumstances."

September 3 was set as the victory day and December 13 as the memorial day, at the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which ran from Tuesday to Thursday.

"We urge Japanese leaders to squarely face and reflect upon Japan's history of aggression with a highly responsible attitude toward facts, the people and the future, to correct their mistakes and change their course, " said the official.

China and Japan are important neighbors for each other, according to the statement, while the Chinese government has always attached great importance to China-Japan ties and advocated developing a healthy and stable relationship with Japan.

The official pointed out the longstanding presence in Japan of forces attempting to reverse the historical verdict on its aggression and Class-A war criminals, to challenge the just trial of Japanese militarism by the international community and the outcome of World War II and the post-war international order.

"The Chinese people as well as the people of the whole world will never ever allow such things happen," said the official, arguing that past experience should serve as a guide for the future.

"The reason that we stress remembering history is to take it as a mirror to guide the future, and to avoid any repeat of the historic tragedy," according to the comments.

The Chinese people's resistance against Japan's military aggression represented a war of justice and constituted an important part of the World Anti-Fascist War.

China's victory laid a solid foundation for China's national independence, the Chinese people's liberation and the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

It also helped people in other nations to win the Anti-Fascist war and made a contribution to world peace, the official said.

The Chinese people sacrificed much during the conflict.

In 1951, the Chinese government designated September 3, the day after Japan officially signed the instrument of surrender in 1945, as the victory day.

The official said that Thursday's ratification of the victory day was intended to better remember history and honor the martyears who lost their lives in the war and all the people who contributed to the victory.

It also displayed the Chinese people's firm stance of safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity as well as the outcome of the Second World War and the post-war international order, according to the statement.

As to the decision on the memorial day, the official said the purpose is to commemorate victims of the Nanjing Massacre and all those killed by Japanese aggression, as well as to disclose the war crimes of Japanese invaders and consolidate memories of the severe calamities imposed by the invasion on the Chinese people as well as the whole world.

On December 13, 1937, Japanese invaders started a catastrophic massacre in Nanjing, then China's capital city. More than 300,000 Chinese people lost their lives during 40 days.

The official cited the Nanjing Massacre as one of the most inhuman and brutal crimes in history, adding that the atrocities committed by Japanese invaders are irrefutable.

The establishment of the memorial day is also expected to express the Chinese people's stance on fighting aggression and safeguarding human dignity, historical justice and world peace.