China marked the 83rd anniversary of the 9.18 Incident on Thursday, as senior Communist Party of China (CPC) leader Liu Yunshan joined citizens to strike a big bell engraved with the words "never forget national humiliation."

Air raid sirens were then sounded at 9:18 a.m. across the city of Shenyang, where the incident occurred, along with other cities across northeast China's Liaoning Province.

During his speech before the bell-ringing ceremony, Liu said the deliberate plot by Japanese militarists 83 years ago stirred up Chinese people's anger, marking the beginning of the 14-year war to fight against Japanese aggressors.

It was also a prelude to the world's anti-fascism war, he added.

Under the leadership of the CPC, hundreds of thousands of volunteers and armed forces members in northeast China joined the 14-year-long fight against the aggressors, Liu said.

"The purpose of commemorating the 9.18 Incident is to remind people of history, honor the martyrs, call on people to remember national humiliation and join the drive to realize the Chinese dream," he said.

He also said that the anti-Japanese war highlighted the importance of promoting national strength, maintaining national unity and fostering a patriotic spirit among the Chinese.

He called on Chinese people to carry on the spirit of the anti-Japanese fighters and strive to realize the Chinese dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

After the speech, Liu joined officials and public representatives and struck the bell 14 times, representing the 14 years of war the Chinese people fought against Japanese aggression.

More than 1,000 people, including senior CPC officials, veterans of the anti-Japanese war, as well as officials from local Party, government and army units, were on the scene to watch the ceremony.

"Impressive. It's like a public history lesson," said Chen Sisi, a middle school student who witnessed the event.

The 9.18 Incident, or "Mukden Incident," occurred on September 18, 1931, when Japanese troops blew up a section of the railway under their control near Shenyang, and then accused Chinese troops of sabotage as a pretext for attack. They bombarded barracks near Shenyang the same evening, beginning a large-scale armed invasion of northeast China.

The incident was followed by Japan's full-scale invasion of China and the rest of Asia, triggering the 14-year war against Japanese aggression.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2014)