Opening ceremony of Northeast China war relics association, in Changchun, Jilin, on June 3. [Photo by Xu Chang/ jl.xinhuanet.com]

China's Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces now officially have a Northeast China Relics Association of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression after it opened with a ceremony in Changchun, Jilin's capital, on June 3, with 110 related administrations as members across the three provinces.

This is the region's first ever NGO working on this aspect of World War II and comes with its own website at http://www.kzyjlm.com for information online.

Official opening up of the association's website, on June 3 [Photo by Xu Chang/ jl.xinhuanet.com]

Regional administrators came up with the NGO idea as a way to honor the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Anti-Fascist War (1939 - 1945), to preserve war relics and to set up a way to share them. The three provinces have a vast legacy of WWII memories with their own regional characteristics, and have done a lot of research on it.

The association charter and 2015 plan got approval at the ceremony and an administrative site board of directors was elected, with the Puppet Manchurian Palace administration as the first president. The first of September each year has also been designated an annual theme day for the NGO.