China on Wednesday pledged to actively participate in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa.

"China will actively participate in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa to safeguard regional peace and stability," Xu Jinghu, the head of the Africa Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a briefing on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Since 1990, China has participated in a total of 12 UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, involving more than 3,000 Chinese peacekeepers, Xu said.

China has played a more active role in UN peacekeeping operations since 2003, sending peacekeeping forces to UN missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sudan, Xu said.

"A total of 1,273 Chinese peacekeepers are now working for seven UN missions in Africa," she said.

China also offered assistance to the peacekeeping missions of the African Union, Xu said, citing material assistance and cash remittance.

The FOCAC will be held in Beijing from November 3 to 5, with the theme of "friendship, peace, cooperation and development".

The summit will be the highest-level, largest-scale meeting between China and African leaders since the founding of the People's Republic of China, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.