An almost year-long exhibition will open on Friday at the Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence in Shau Kei Wan, highlighting the efforts made by the people of Hong Kong and Guangzhou in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

The exhibition showcases around 40 sets of wartime relics and 150 historical photos.

Among the notable items are a cloth chest badge worn by members of the resistance group Dongjiang Column and binoculars used by them.

At an opening ceremony on Thursday, Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk said the display provides an opportunity for the younger generation to commemorate wartime events and learn to cherish the hard-earned peace.

"This exhibition not only showcases the Chinese people's heroic resistance during the war, but also demonstrates the country's contribution to the World Anti-Fascist War," he said.

It's one of two large-scale exhibitions staged in Hong Kong marking the 80th anniversary of war victory. The other opened at the Museum of History on Wednesday.

"This is the exhibition that we cooperated with the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History. Our focus is on the relationship between Hong Kong and Guangdong... how their concerted efforts put in the anti-Japanese aggression during the war of resistance," said Terence Cheung, head of the government's Chinese Culture Promotion Office.

"I realised that the exhibition in the Hong Kong Museum of History is a holistic approach to introduce the war of resistance history in the whole China to fight against the Japanese aggression, so our focus is quite different."

Assistant curator Franco Yeung of the Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence said the show will offer a variety of interactive programmes to make the historical content understandable to visitors of all ages.

"We have input a lot of multimedia programmes, such as an interactive map that actually features 23 historical sites in Hong Kong that commemorates the anti-Japanese guerrillas in Hong Kong," he said.

"We hope that through this kind of multimedia programmes, we can make our younger generations more interested in history."

Entry is free and the show will run until July 8 next year.