Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, makes the opening remarks at the ceremony celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Chinese Armed Forces' Participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations in New York on November 9 (HUANG WEI)

A photo exhibition celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Chinese Armed Forces' Participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on November 9.

More than 100 people attended the opening ceremony presided by Zhou Ming, head of the military staff committee of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations.

Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General of UN, listens to the introduction of the photo exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on November 9 (HUANG WEI)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the exhibition's opening via a message delivered by Ms. Cristina Gallach, the Under-Secretary-General. Ban said in the message that the United Nations "honor the invaluable contribution of the Chinese Armed Forces to United Nations peacekeeping operations across the world," adding that China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, is one of the top 10 troop and police contributors to the UN peacekeeping missions.

The message said that this photo exhibition "provides a small taste of the major efforts undertaken by Chinese peacekeepers."

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, made the opening remarks at the ceremony. He pointed out that China is one of the major contributors of troops and finance for UN peacekeeping missions.

China has taken part in 24 UN peacekeeping operations since 1990, supplying 30,000 peacekeepers over that period. Currently, there are 2,883 Chinese peacekeeping members serving in nine operations out of the total 16 peacekeeping missions all around the world.

Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, looks at pictures during the photo exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on November 9 (HUANG WEI)

"China's contribution to the UN peacekeeping missions is extraordinary," Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, told Beijing Review.

He highly commended the vivid images of the exhibition, which "conveyed China's peacekeeping efforts." He said one of his favorites, among the total 64 photos and illustrations of the exhibition, was the one titled "Chinese peacekeepers delivering water for livestock." The caption reads that "Residents and animals in Darfur of Sudan, are faced with severe drinking water shortages as a result of the region's arid climate. Chinese peacekeepers deployed there do their utmost to help them."

"In Darfur, [and] in many of the deserts, you can see the Chinese peacekeepers, engineers [digging] the wells, and you can see people and animals drink water from the wells," he explained it to the audience.

"So this is the other way [of] doing peacekeeping. Peacekeeping is not only military actions, not only security presence, it's also working with the communities, providing humanitarian assistance, and giving a hand to those people who [have] suffered so much," Mulet told Beijing Review.

The week-long exhibition is jointly organized by the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defence, and the International Communications Bureau of the Ministry of National Defence.

(Reporting from New York City )