Chinese leaders honor martyrs on National Day

China's top leaders attend the flower baskets laying ceremony in rain at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tian'anmen Square of Beijing, Oct 1, 2013, the National Day of China. (Photo: Liu Zhen / China News Service)

Soldiers carry the flower baskets in rain at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tian'anmen Square of Beijing, Oct 1, 2013, the National Day of China. (Photo: Liu Zhen / China News Service)

China's top leaders laid flower baskets at the Monument to the People's Heroes at Tiananmen Square on Tuesday morning to mark the 64th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

All seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee attended the ceremony and paid their respects to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for China's independence and the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli walked to the Monument to the People's Heroes in rain after 240 children released white doves.

Xi and other officials sang the national anthem together with over 3,000 representatives from various walks of life, and they later stood in silence for the martyrs.

After flower baskets were placed at the Monument, Xi and other senior officials paid homage before the Monument.

It was the first time the new generation of Party and state leaders made a group appearance in National Day celebrations.

On Oct. 1, 1949, Mao Zedong stood at the Tiananmen Rostrum to declare the founding of the PRC. Two months later, the Chinese government declared Oct. 1 National Day.