Peacekeeping forum opens in Beijing

The annual International Forum for Challenges of Peace Operations opened Tuesday in Beijing as experts met to discuss peacekeeping amid diversified threats.

Attracting more than 120 participants from about 30 countries, the three-day event is being hosted by the Ministry of National Defense and the China Institute for International Strategic Studies.

China will send a 700-strong infantry battalion to the UN Mission in South Sudan in the near future, marking the first Chinese battalion to participate in a peacekeeping mission, an official with the ministry said at the forum.

As the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has deployed more than 27,000 military personnel around the globe as of September 2014, according to the ministry.

A total of 2,027 Chinese peacekeepers are currently posted in conflict zones.