Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) attended a ceremony on Sunday morning to pay tribute and lay wreaths at the Monument to the People's Heroes at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing.

Xi, also general secretary of CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, joined representatives of all walks of life to mark the country's fifth Martyrs' Day, on the eve of the National Day.

China designated September 30 as Martyrs' Day in 2014 to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting for national causes.

In China, martyrs refer to "people who sacrificed their lives for national independence and prosperity, as well as the welfare of the people in modern times, or after the First Opium War (1840-1842)".