China repairs artifacts retrieved from famous warship

China has begun restoration of rare artifacts retrieved from a sunken warship named after revered revolutionary forerunner Sun Yat-sen.

More than 200 pieces of chinaware as well as 5 swords from the Zhongshan Warship will be repaired, marking the first big-scale relic restoration since the warship was lifted out of water in 1997, said Wang Ruihua, curator of the Zhongshan Warship Museum located in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

Wang told Xinhua Saturday that the move is aimed at enhancing public awareness of war brutality.

"It is also an important step toward better relic preservation," Wang said.

The Zhongshan Warship was attacked by Japanese bombs and sank in the Yangtze River in Wuhan during the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). It was recovered from the river along with 5,000 artifacts, which were transported to Hubei Shipyard for preservation.

Zhongshan Warship was named after Sun Yat-sen, whose name in Mandarin Chinese is "Sun Zhongshan." Sun was an important figure in the Chinese revolution. Renovation of the ship was completed in 2000.