BEIJING, September 3. /TASS/. China is grateful to the people of Russia for the assistance provided during World War II during China’s fight against Japan, Special Representative of the Chinese Government for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui said on Friday.

"We would like to express our gratitude to the Russian people for the support and assistance during the war of the Chinese resistance against Japanese occupants," he said at the opening ceremony for the "Stalingrad 1942-1943" exhibition at the Beijing memorial museum.

The diplomat noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently had a discussion on the necessity to defend the outcome of the World War II together. Li Hui underscored that it was extremely important to be able to interpret history correctly, while simultaneously moving forward, "discovering the future."

After Japan initiated hostilities in 1937, the Soviet Union sent its instructors and specialists to China and provided large-scale military-technical aid. By 1942, the USSR had shipped some 1,200 planes, 1,600 cannons and about 80 tanks. Over 5,000 Soviet citizens worked both at the front line and at the home front in order to repair and maintain the shipped vehicles. In 1938, the Soviet vehicles became the basis of the first armored division in the history of the Chinese Army.