Chinese military peacekeeping professionals are being entrusted with increasingly important responsibilities by the United Nations and have won broad praise from UN officials, mission commanders, international peers, and governments and people in host nations, Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said on Thursday.

Jiang made the remarks at a regular news conference while commenting on the recent appointment by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of Chinese Major General Wu Junhui as force commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan.

Since the Chinese military first participated in UN peacekeeping operations in 1990, it has carried out 26 missions and dispatched more than 50,000 peacekeepers to over 20 countries and regions, Jiang said. Seventeen Chinese service members have died in the line of duty.

At present, more than 1,600 Chinese peacekeepers are carrying out tasks in Lebanon, South Sudan, Abyei and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other locations, including stabilizing local situations, clearing mines and unexploded ordnance, protecting civilians and providing medical assistance, he said.

As the largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping operations among the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget, China has consistently supported the UN's central role and backed the organization in safeguarding international peace and security, Jiang said.

China will continue to increase its contribution to UN peacekeeping operations and deepen cooperation with other countries in peacekeeping affairs to help dispel the shadow of war and promote peace, Jiang said.