BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that a long-term friendship between Japan and China will work for fundamental benefits of their nationals and the maintenance of peace and stability in Asia and the whole world.

At a meeting to mark the 75th anniversary of China’s victory in its war against Japan, Xi also said, apparently with the United States in mind, that Chinese citizens will never give in to power trying to distort and change China’s unique socialism, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

On the war, Xi said that China completely destroyed the scheme of Japan’s militarism.

Meanwhile, he pointed to the need for friendship between Japanese and Chinese people for generations.

On Thursday, a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary was held at the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, located near where the Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred on July 7, 1937, triggering a full-scale war between the two countries.

The memorial, attended by Xi, was scaled down significantly from the last time he took part in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary, when there was a large-scale military parade.

Also on Thursday, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged congratulatory messages.

JIJI Press