China kicked off the deployment of its fifth peacekeeping mission to Sudan this week, with 435 officers and soldiers to be sent in four groups, the Jinan Military Command Area said Tuesday.

The first group of 105 peacekeepers Monday departed for the African country from Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

The entire team comprises 435 people from engineering, transportation and medical corps of the Jinan Military Command Area. They will be fully deployed in the Wau region in southwest Sudan by the end of February, replacing the fourth peacekeeping team from China.

During the 8-month mission, their major tasks will be repairing and maintaining traffic and civic facilities, and providing medical services in the region, Wang Encheng, an official with the Jinan Military Command Area, said one month ago when the team began to receive special training in Zhengzhou.

This will be the second mission to Sudan for 72 teammembers, Wang said.

China first sent peacekeepers to southern Sudan in May 2006 to join the United Nations' peacekeeping efforts in the war-torn region. The fourth group was deployed there in June last year.

The other two peacekeeping missions were conducted in Sudan's Darfur region. In November 2007 and July 2008, China sent a total of 315 engineering corps personnel to join the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2009)