Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pay homage to the Chinese martyrs killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in May 1999, after arriving in Belgrade for a state visit to Serbia, June 17, 2016. The three martyrs were journalists Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency, and Xu Xinghu and his wife Zhu Ying, of the Guangming Daily newspaper. [Photo/Xinhua]

NANJING - Xu Linhua was thrilled when she learned from news that Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a state visit to Serbia, paid homage to the three Chinese martyrs including her brother, Xu Xinghu.

Xu Xinghu was a journalist with the Guangming Daily when he was killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in May 1999, with his wife and another journalist Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency.

"The whole family were busy farming at the time, until neighbors learned the news of my brother's death on TV and came to tell us," Xu told Xinhua on Saturday.

"We kept it from my father who was ill in bed. But many journalists came to our house the next day and it was impossible to conceal the news. My parents were heartbroken."

Born in a village in east China's Jiangsu Province, Xu Xinghu was the only son in the family, with two older sisters. Though they hated to be parted from their boy, his parents had been very supportive of his career choice, including stationing abroad.

"It was like the sky was falling down on us knowing that he would never come back home," she said.

Xu recalled her brother worked very hard and had always been the pride of the family.

Telephones were not common in rural areas at that time. Xu's family had a telephone installed in 1999, but hardly used it because of the high cost. Most of the time, they were just waiting for Xu Xinghu to call. In Xu Linhua's memory, her brother called only three times before his death.

"We had a very difficult time before we could get over his death," she said.

Party leaders and government officials have been very supportive of Xu's family over the years. "Especially when our father fell seriously ill in 2013, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Guangming Daily paid a visit to comfort us and offer help."

"I'm deeply grateful that President Xi paid homage to my brother," she added.

As the first public event after arriving on Friday, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan joined Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and all other cabinet members in paying silent tribute to the martyrs.

Leaders of the two countries laid wreaths to a new memorial erected on the site where the embassy once stood, engraved with "Honor Martyrs, Cherish Peace."

On May 7, 1999, U.S.-led NATO forces carried out a missile attack on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which left the three journalists dead, dozens of others injured, and the embassy building severely damaged.

To commemorate the reporters and thank China for its support to Serbia, the Belgrade city government set up the first memorial in front of the embassy site on May 7, 2009.