Backgrounder: China's 25-year engagement in overseas peacekeeping missions

As the People's Liberation Army (PLA)celebrates its 88th anniversary Saturday, the year 2015 also marks the 25th year of China's participation in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions around the world.

Below is a summary of China's a-quarter-century peacekeeping efforts that showcase the country's commitment to maintaining world peace and fulfilling its international obligations.

In April 1990, China sent five military observers to join the work of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in the Middle East. It was the first time China participated in UN-led peacekeeping missions.

In April 1992, the Chinese government dispatched a military engineering unit to Cambodia to repair roads, maintain airports, build barracks and other engineering support tasks. It was the first time China sent a non-combat blue berets unit to join UN peacekeeping missions.

Since then, Chinese peacekeepers have been seen in many restive regions and countries across the world, including East Timor, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Haiti, Lebanon, Mali and Sudan, among others.

In January 2000, at the request of the UN, China started to dispatch peacekeeping policemen to East Timor. Chinese peacekeeping policemen have since become an important part of the country's overseas peacekeeping operations.

In January 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security sent the first batch of peacekeeping policemen to the United Nations Missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking Chinese peacekeepers' first appearance in Europe.

In October 2004, China sent to Haiti a police unit of 125 people.

In 2013, China for the first time sent to Mali a peacekeeping security division.

In 2015, China sent its first-ever infantry to South Sudan, a historic breakthrough in the category of Chinese peacekeeping troops.

Over the past 25 years, China has made a series of historic leaps in its peacekeeping efforts.

Geographically, China's participation in UN peacekeeping missions, which initially was concentrated on the Middle East, was once expanded to simultaneously cover 11 regions.

In terms of category, the Chinese teams, which used to be merely engineering units, have expanded to have a comprehensive spectrum of personnel, including engineers, personnel of logistics and health care, security guards and infantry troops.

In terms of scale, China has become the largest contributor of peacekeeping troops among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, providing a total of 2,720 peacekeepers today, up from only five military observers in the very early time.

With respect to expenditures, China shoulders a peacekeeping budget that ranks sixth among all UN member states, first among developing countries.

Up till now, China has participated in 24 peacekeeping missions led by the UN and is involved in nine of the 16 ongoing missions worldwide.

Meanwhile, China has established a three-tire training system ranging from the elementary level to the secondary and senior levels that organizes training programs for its peacekeeping troops by strictly following the UN standards.

So far, the peacekeeping center under Defense Ministry has conducted more than 3,800 person-times of medium- and senior-level peacekeeping training.

The country currently organizes international training two to three times a year and maintains partnerships with over 80 countries and international organizations. Endi