Milestones of China's participation in peacekeeping

April 1990: China's first peacekeeping effort. It deploys five UN military observers to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in the Middle East.

April 1992: The first mission for blue berets. China dispatches a military engineering unit to the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. Since then, Chinese peacekeepers have been seen in many regions and countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Lebanon, Sudan, Mali and South Sudan.

October 2004: The first integrated riot police team participation in a UN mission sees a 125-strong unit sent to Haiti.

February 2015: The first Chinese infantry battalion to take part in a UN peacekeeping mission is sent to South Sudan.

September 2015: President Xi Jinping makes several commitments at the Leaders' Summit on UN peacekeeping, including that China will join the new UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System, build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops, and set up a permanent peacekeeping police squad. China will also send its first peacekeeping helicopter squad to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa. And, over the next five years, train 2,000 Peacekeepers, carry out 10 mine clearance assistance programs, and provide military aid of US$100 million to the African Union.