1990年，中国人民解放军向联合国中东维和任务区派遣5名军事观察员，首次参加联合国维和行动。1992年，向联合国柬埔寨维和任务区派出400人的工程兵大队，首次派遣成建制部队。2001年，成立国防部维和事务办公室。2002年，加入联合国一级维和待命安排机制。2009年，组建国防部维和中心。截至2010年12月，共参加19项联合国维和行动，累计派出维和官兵17390人次，9名维和官兵在执行任务中牺牲。

    中国维和部队发扬特别能吃苦、特别能战斗、特别能奉献的优良作风，以高度负责的职业精神投入工作，新建、修复道路8700多公里、桥梁270座，排除地雷和各类未爆物8900多枚，运送物资60多万吨，运输总里程930多万公里，接诊病人7.9万人次，圆满完成联合国赋予的各类维和任务。

In 1990, the PLA sent five military observers to the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) - the first time China had taken part in UN peacekeeping operations. In 1992, it dispatched an engineering corps of 400 officers and men to the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) - the first time China had sent an organic unit on peacekeeping missions. It established the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China in 2001. In 2002, it joined the UN Stand-by Arrangement System. In 2009, it established the Peacekeeping Center of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. As of December 2010, China has dispatched 17,390 military personnel to 19 UN peace-keeping missions. Nine officers and men have lost their lives on duty.

Tough, brave and devoted, the Chinese peacekeeping troops have fulfilled various tasks entrusted to them by the UN in a responsible and professional way. They have built and repaired over 8,700 km of roads and 270 bridges, cleared over 8,900 mines and various explosive devices, transported over 600,000 tons of cargo across a total distance of 9.3 million km, and treated 79,000 patients.