BEIJING - A team of 257 Chinese soldiers left Beijing on Monday for a 12-month United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia.

They are the first team of the 18th batch of Chinese peacekeepers sent on tour since 2003, when China joined the peacekeeping mission in Liberia under the UN Security Council's Resolution 1509. The second team is scheduled to set off on Sept. 17.

The 18th batch has 508 soldiers in total, consisting of a 275-member engineering battalion, a 190-member transport battalion, and a 43-member medical team.

All the soldiers are from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Beijing Military Area Command.

Their mission includes infrastructure work such as road and bridge construction; repairs in residential areas and the country's airports; and reconditioning water and power facilities.

The troops are also tasked with transporting personnel and materials, providing medical treatment, contagious and epidemic disease control and prevention.

After handing over the work to their successors, the first batch of the 17th detachment troops will return to China on Sept. 9 and the second batch will return on Sept. 18.