SHENYANG, Jan. 26 -- The central government has assigned 44.8 million yuan (7.3 million U.S. dollars) to support the renovation of a memorial to Chinese nationals killed during the Japanese World War II occupation.

The memorial site, which stretches for more than 569,700 square meters, was built in the 1960s in Fuxin City, in the northeast province of Liaoning, but it has fallen into a dire state of disrepair. It is is believed to be the largest mass grave in the country.

According to Liaoning finance department, the project, which began last October, was initially jointly funded by the central and local governments, with the central government's 44.8 million yuan allocated earlier this month.

Wang Qiuyi, from the Fuxin bureau of culture, radio and television, said that the project would be finished this year.

He said that preservative work on the remains of the miners had been finished and the construction of an exhibition hall was ongoing.

During the Japanese occupation in the 1930s and 1940s, locals were forced into mining by the ruling power. Many died as a result of the intense labor.

Li Bingang, professor of the Communist Party School of Liaoning, said the preservation of mass graves was of great cultural and historical importance, as they were evidence of the Japanese invaders' behavior during this period of history.