Chief Secretary Eric Chan said on Thursday that the opening of a patriotic education base for Hong Kong and Macau students in Beijing marks an important milestone for the promotion of national education in the Hong Kong SAR.

The facility is inside the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which is located near Marco Polo, or Lugou, Bridge, where Japan launched its full-scale invasion of China in 1937.

Attending a ceremony to mark the opening of the base, Chan thanked the central government for its long-standing support for the SAR government's promotion of patriotic education.

He said he believes the base will become an important platform in raising patriotic sentiments and the understanding of national history among young people from Hong Kong and Macau.

"The history of the war of resistance is the most vivid kind of patriotic education material," Chan said in his speech.

"I strongly believe and hope that everyone who visits the museum and the patriotic education base, especially students and teachers from Hong Kong, will experience first hand the awakening of patriotic sentiment."

Chan added he hopes visitors can draw strength from the experience to strive for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Chan went on to say that he looks forward to having more such patriotic education facilities across the country, adding that would strengthen the national and ethnic identities of young people from Hong Kong and Macau.