Chinese President Hu Jintao and other state leaders joined 60 veterans for an evening party held in Beijing Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance  Against the Japanese Aggression.

Over 1,500 artists staged songs and dances at the evening party entitled "For Justice and Peace" for an audience of over 6,000.

"It's very good to hold such an evening," one of the veterans said to Hu, when the old soldier was helped by the president to take his seat.

The art performances depicted how Japan invaded China and how the Chinese people and soldiers battled the Japanese troops, reminding both audience and artists of the bitter past and making many of them tearful.

According to official figures, China lost 35 million lives during the resistance war against Japanese aggression (1937-45).

The evening party was one of the memorial activities which have been held nationwide in China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2005)