A new English-language book helps readers better understand China's role in the war and how foreigners like Norman Bethune supported the cause. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A new book has recently been launched as part of China's celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Published by the Central Compilation and Translation Press, The Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: A Concise History is the country's first official account of the war in English.

The 488-page book provides readers with an opportunity to better understand that period in the country's history and the important role it played in World War II.

The war started in China on Sept 18, 1931 and ended on Aug 15, 1945.

The book contains 60 historical photos, covering battlefield events, the Japanese fascist atrocities such as the Nanking Massacre, biological and chemical warfare, the abduction and enslavement of Chinese laborers and the brutal abuse of Chinese women, China's cooperation with other allied forces like the Chinese army in India and the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and the contributions of overseas Chinese.

"After reading this book, the world will better understand China's important role as the main Asian battlefield in the war," says Wei Haisheng, deputy head of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, at the book launch.

"Readers around the world will learn about the vital role the Communist Party of China played in the war. Besides, it (the book) also provides academics with details about the war, and allows China to counter any distortion of historical facts," he says.

The bureau, founded in 1953, has been compiling, translating and researching classical Marxist works, and translating important documents of the Communist Party of China and the government, such as the government work reports released during the annual sessions of National People's Congress, and also works or remarks by Chinese leaders such as the Selected Works of Mao Zedong and Excerpts of Remarks of Xi Jinping on the Chinese Dream to Realize the Chinese Nation's Great Rejuvenation.

The languages in which the works are produced are English, German, French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.

The original Chinese edition of the book was published in May by People's Publishing House.

In March, a translation team consisting of six Chinese and two native English speakers at the bureau started to work on an English version. The translation was finished in July and the book was published in mid-August.