ISTANBUL

China on Monday marked the 88th anniversary of the Japanese war, state media reported.

President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, paid tribute to those who died in a “major campaign in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression” in the Yangquan area in northern Shanxi province.

According to Xinhua News, the “Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the first to break out and lasted the longest in the World Anti-Fascist War, resulting in over 35 million Chinese military and civilian casualties.”

China refers to World War II as the World Anti-Fascist War.

Chinese authorities also held a ceremony to mark the anniversary at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in the capital, Beijing.

Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the event.

“When Japanese militarists launched their invasion of China 88 years ago, the Chinese military and people rose up in resistance, initiating a war effort constituted by the whole nation that opened the main Eastern battlefield in the global war against fascism,” said Cai.

The Chinese people “eventually won the war and made a significant contribution to the victory in the global war against fascism,” said Cai, lauding the CPC for “bravely” fighting on the “front lines of the resistance.”