Timeline of China's participation in UN peacekeeping missions

1990 The Chinese military sends five military observers to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, beginning the country's involvement with UN peacekeeping operations.

1992 An engineering unit of 400 troops is sent to the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia — the first Chinese military commitment to UN peacekeeping efforts.

2001 The Ministry of National Defense's Peacekeeping Affairs Office is established, responsible for coordinating and managing peacekeeping affairs and conducting international peacekeeping exchanges. The office is restructured into the Peacekeeping Affairs Center of the MND in 2018.

2003 China sends 218 peacekeepers to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 558 troops to the UN mission in Liberia.

2006 China sends 182 peacekeepers to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon and 435 troops to the UN mission in Sudan.

2007 Major General Zhao Jingmin is appointed as force commander of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, the first Chinese military officer to assume a senior command in a UN peacekeeping force.

2009 The MND's Peacekeeping Center is established, which takes over the responsibility for peacekeeping training. In 2018, the center is transformed into the Training Base under the newly established Peacekeeping Affairs Center.

2009 The Chinese military holds a joint exercise called Peacekeeping Mission 2009 with its Mongolian counterparts. It is China's first joint peacekeeping exercise with a foreign force.

2010 The Peacekeeping Affairs Office and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations co-host the UN Senior Mission Leaders' Course in Beijing — the first senior-level peacekeeping training program held by the Chinese military.

2013 China sends 395 troops to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

2015 President Xi Jinping addresses the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping at the UN headquarters in New York and puts forth four propositions and six measures that China will take to support UN peacekeeping.

2017 The 8,000-strong Chinese peacekeeping standby force completes its registration in the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System.

* Since 1990, the Chinese military has sent more than 50,000 officers and soldiers to participate in UN peacekeeping missions in more than 20 countries and regions.

* China is currently the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget. Among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, it is the top contributor of peacekeepers, with nearly 1,800 Chinese troops serving in seven peacekeeping missions and UN headquarters.

Source: The white paper China's Armed Forces: 30 Years of UN Peacekeeping Operations; The Ministry of National Defense; People's Daily; China Media Group; tv.81.cn