Enabler becomes enforcer

China has been participating in peacekeeping missions for nearly three decades. However, it is only in the past five years that in addition to contributing "peace enablers", such as engineers and medical staff, the country has also provided "peace enforcers" via the deployment of police forces and infantry battalions.

China sent its first peacekeeping police force to the UN mission in Mali in 2013, and its first infantry battalion unit to South Sudan in 2015. In June, the first Chinese helicopter unit joined the peacekeeping effort in Darfur, western Sudan.

Senior Colonel Zhang Geqiang, who led the Chinese peacekeepers in Mali in 2013, said personnel are selected from the country's best troops because they will represent China on the international stage.