BEIJING, July 7 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday unveiled a sculpture commemorating the start of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression 77 years ago.

The sculpture, based on a military medal, was unveiled at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression by Xi in the company of veteran Chinese soldiers who took part in the conflict, as well as Chinese teenagers.

"The inauguration of this sculpture commemorates those who devoted their lives to fighting for national independence and freedom as well as those who made great contribution to peace and justice, and to console the victims of the war," Xi said during the ceremony.

Japan invaded northeast China in September 1931. But historians agree that Japan's full-scale invasion started on July 7, 1937, when a crucial access point to Beijing, Lugou Bridge, was attacked by Japanese troops.