A 106-member team of Chinese soldiers left Thursday for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for an eight-month UN peace-keeping operation there.

They formed the first batch of China's 11th peace-keeping team to DRC since 2003. They will be joined by a second batch of 114 soldiers who are scheduled to depart on March 28.

The 11th team, all from the Lanzhou Military Area Command, comprises military engineers and medical staff. They will carry out landmine detection, maintenance of airport and transport facilities, and rescue and treatment of the injured and the sick, disease prevention in the central African country.

China's tenth peacekeeping team to DRC, made up of 218 soldiers in total, left Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, July 2, 2009.

China has send more than 11,000 soldiers to participate in 18 UN peacekeeping missions since 1990. At least eight soldiers have died on those missions, according to a white paper published by the State Council's Information Office in January 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2010)