Doves flew over the site after the ceremony, which was completed in less than half an hour, in front of an audience that included police officers and school children.
China marked its first national memorial day for the massacre in 2014, where Xi spoke and called on China and Japan to set aside hatred and not allow the minority who led Japan to war to affect relations now.
Xi last attended the event in person in 2017 but did not deliver public remarks.
China’s State Council Information Office, which handles questions from foreign media to the central government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Xi’s absence.
Still, on Saturday, the Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army put out a picture on its social media accounts of a large bloody sword, of the type used by many Chinese soldiers during the war, chopping off the head of a skeleton wearing a Japanese army cap.
“For nearly 1,000 years, the eastern dwarves have brought calamity; the sea of blood and deep hatred are still before our very eyes,” it said, using an old expression for Japan.
