Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the annual high-level general debate of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, on September 28 (XINHUA)

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Monday a series of major actions in support of the United Nations (UN) and its peacekeeping efforts.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, he said China will join the new UN peacekeeping capability readiness system, take the lead to set up a permanent peacekeeping police squad, and build an 8,000-strong standby peacekeeping force.

Also, China will establish a 10-year, $1-billion China-UN peace and development fund to "support the UN's work, advance multilateral cooperation and contribute more to world peace and development," he added.

In addition, Xi said, China is to provide a total of $100 million of free military aid for the African Union in the next five years to support the establishment of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis.

The move is in line with China's long-standing support for Africa.

"We firmly support increasing the representation and say of developing countries, especially African countries, in the international governance system," said Xi.

In his remarks, Xi said the Chinese Dream of great national rejuvenation is closely connected with the dreams of other peoples.

"We cannot realize the Chinese Dream without a peaceful international environment, a stable international order and the understanding, support and help from the rest of the world," said Xi.

He made solemn promises to build world peace, contribute to global development and uphold the international order.

"No matter how the international landscape may evolve and how strong China may become, it will never pursue hegemony, expansion or sphere of influence," said Xi.

In addition to providing assistance for peacekeeping efforts, Xi said China is ready to share development experience and opportunities with other countries and welcome them to "board China's express train of development."

The United Nations now has more than 120,000 peace keepers deployed in 16 missions around the world, costing over $8 billion a year. However, the world body is chronically plagued by slow formation and deployment of its peacekeeping forces.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2015)