Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday recalled the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Invasion, urging remembrance of history.

"The future can be inaugurated and peace can be maintained only if lessons from history are kept in mind," Li said during a joint press briefing with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel after their talks.

Monday coincided with the 77th anniversary of the beginning of the war.

Li reviewed the Chinese people's eight-year fight up to the Japanese surrender in 1945, saying "past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future."

Earlier on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a gathering marking the anniversary.