BEIJING, July 7 -- A ceremony was held in Beijing on Thursday to mark the 79th anniversary of the start of China's defence against Japanese invasion.

The ceremony was held at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and chaired by Guo Jinlong, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Around 500 people, including veterans of the war, families of military officers who fought in the war, officials, students and representatives from the military, attended the gathering and visited an exhibition on CPC members' heroism in the war.

Japan invaded northeast China in September 1931. However, historians agree that the full-scale invasion began on July 7, 1937, when a bridge that acted as a crucial access point to Beijing was attacked by the Japanese invaders.

The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was an important part of World War II.